6. Arankal>
-If Vander is a master of chess, then I make the rules of chess.>—A Pa from 500 years ago
-Harijan, Collector of Six Horns, Killadepal☆ ☆ ☆Normally, autonomous mobile weapons would at least say a word before killing.
Unregistered life-form detected. Exterminate. Even if it was in a stiff mechanical voice like that.
But the things before him did not even have that.
The moment they saw Cian, they emitted red light from their eyes and completed a scan. As soon as it was determined that Cian was not registered, their eyes continued endlessly gathering combat-related information on him, while their cores spewed out ferocious energy and they charged in.
From cores made by gathering only the highest-grade Talic Stones, energy near infinite was supplied. That energy was immediately transformed into Vander and Exar, then fed into magic formations that were the crystallization of the Empire’s highest-level technologies. The Arankal, which had been mere machines before activation, were transformed into splendid slaughter weapons and tried to tear Cian apart.
The “Karmata” he had seen last time were truly nothing but children’s toys compared to the weapons before him.
These things were crystallizations of technology, miracles, and Talic Stones far beyond the Karmata. Despite being machines, they were equal to each of those Golden Sword old men he had seen last time.
These must be the things he had sensed inside the cliff when he arrived at the Kulan Barony.
Looking at the charging Arankal, Cian thought he wanted to beat up both the strange man who had activated these bizarre things just because he did not want to be dragged away, and Baron Pareon, who had run away as soon as they started moving.
In one sense, it was fortunate.
The man before him had shouted the startup command, then decided he could not accept a humiliating death and died spewing blood as he reversed his Vander; Baron Pareon had fled at once, so there was not a single living creature within a ten-kilometer radius now.‘Still, at least I won’t have to kill anyone this time.’Having thought that far, Cian grumbled that there had been far too many occasions lately where he had to exert himself, and released the power crouched near his heart throughout his entire body.
Something within him changed, and the corners of Cian’s mouth, which had been twisted in annoyance, lifted upward as though he were enjoying himself.
Kra-ga-ga-gak!
The blazing-looking right hand of an Arankal struck directly where Cian had been, and the utterly solid bulkhead was gouged out as though it were tofu.‘Wow… these toys are really something.’Cian dodged this way and that, looking at them as though amused.
In truth, he had not cared at all about the things that thief had stuffed into his pockets earlier. They had truly been toy-level.
But these fellows were quite strong.
He had wondered whether to take them with him, but he did not know how to stop them, nor was he confident he could manage them, so he decided to enjoy watching them to his heart’s content today and then scrap them.
While Cian was thinking about this and that, the Arankal’s core operated fiercely, transforming power into Exar that surged toward its right eye.
Soon, Exar was supplied to the right eye as if it would burst, and then from the Arankal’s right eye, not red light but a chillingly blue radiance poured out in a straight line toward Cian.
“Wow… what’s this one? Haha!”
Curious, Cian took one hit and smiled as though delighted.
It was not merely a chilling color; it truly was a chilling color. It was a freezing miracle intended to bind the opponent’s movements.
Gran
-Because it was for use against Vander, it was used only to the extent of restraining movement; if an ordinary Master had been hit, the struck area would have frozen over and burst apart.
But Cian was not affected at all, and the Arankal did not panic. Calmly, it observed Cian with its eye and prepared its next attack.
Then the core located in the third vertebra among the Arankal’s auxiliary cores shone, and the Arankal’s movements rapidly accelerated.
Only one miracle had not been activated.
All seven auxiliary cores embedded along its spine emitted light, each placing a different auxiliary miracle upon its body.
Then all ten units charged in with combat power incomparable to before.
Watching the ten charging Arankal, Cian laughed as though he were having far too much fun.
One of the Arankal’s main functions was the precise gathering and analysis of information on their opponent.
They were designed so that all autonomous mobile weapons would share the analyzed information and make the optimal response suited to the situation.
Exile
-The Arankal activated as naturally as breathing all manner of sensors, including the Vander-measuring magic formations that the Grand Law Society could operate only by spending an enormous amount of Talant, and constantly examined Cian’s body from every direction, gathering information.[…
Vander measurement value…][…
Movement speed…][…
Instantaneous impact volume…][…
Acceleration speed…][…
Vander rotational coefficient…]
The Arankal examined Cian three-dimensionally from all directions as he observed and dodged their attacks with amusement, and soon produced their analysis results.[Analysis impossible][Insufficient information: physical constants in irregular state. Vander coefficient in irregular state. Unable to identify]
A state in which values called constants because they did not change physically were endlessly fluctuating within his body.
Thus, the Arankal could not grasp their opponent.
Thus, the Arankal could reach a judgment.[Judging by irregular constant state, estimated to be a
-Harijan>-grade entity][Unregistered threat level “F”-class entity. Immediate suppression required][Suppression impossible with current force. Transitioning to PLAN
-Z][Preparing to activate
-Vander were rare beings, but the period during which the Empire ruled the continent had lasted roughly three hundred years. Naturally, even in those days, La
-Vander existed, called Pa
-Harijan.
Sun Hunter, GireinCollector of Six Horns, KilladepalStar Destroyer, RobanotunSon of God, Kon
-RadIn those days, when warriors were treated poorly and Law Mages were favored. In those days, when the existence of Vander had not yet been proven.
Even in the era when fifteen Great Law Mages led the Empire, the Pa
-Harijan, of whom only four existed over three hundred years, strode proudly through the world, proving that there was nothing above them.
Naturally, the Empire tried to study them, and one of them entered into research on the Pa
-Harijan with the aid of a guardian warrior who hunted Harijan attacking the Empire, the Collector of Six Horns, Killadepal.
They believed that if they uncovered that secret, they would be able to obtain tremendous power.
The research progressed more slowly than expected. Part of the reason was that whenever Killadepal grew bored with the research, he would run out and go hunting Harijan, and there were also far too many elements that could not be proven through existing laws or research methods.
There was also the fact that, because the power wielded by Law Mages was so tremendous, there had not been much interest in Vander to begin with, leaving the existing research materials insufficient at the time.
However, the Empire, which absolutely could not give up on the Pa
-Harijan, discovered several facts through endless research and established them in papers.
The summary of one of those papers was as follows.
-Harijan, all physical laws, constants, and coefficients within the body are redefined, and based on this, they affect the outside world.>-They are redefined, but not according to the Pa
-Harijan’s will; the degree of redefinition differs according to the Pa
-Harijan’s level, disposition, and characteristics.
-A body that has deviated from the laws also affects the laws outside it.
The body of a Pa
-Harijan is no longer governed by the physical laws applied equally to all people.
Their bodies become another world, isolated from the outside and governed by different laws.
Warriors strive endlessly to obtain thick muscles, large amounts of Vander, and keenly honed sensory organs. Only by having such things can they produce greater power than others.
Pa
-Harijan are not like that.
Even in slender arms and legs, there exists muscular strength enough to break a mountain; with even a penny’s worth of Vander, they can create power capable of destroying a castle. They display absurd miracles such as standing their ground barehanded without being pushed back even when Harijan the size of small mountains come crashing in.
All because their bodies are already not governed by the rules of this world.
Pa
-Harijan are, literally, beings who have taken one step outside the world.
The Great Law Mages who discovered this astonishing result wanted to find a method to suppress these absurd superhumans in case of emergency.
If left alone, there would be no reason to become entangled with those who had no attachment to the world, but preparing for every possible contingency was always the iron rule of Law Mages.
Most methods were judged to have no possibility and were shelved, and even the methods judged to have potential had never been used until now, because the “one in ten thousand” situation the Law Mages had feared had never occurred.
One of those methods judged to have potential, but which had remained built into the Arankal because there had been no opportunity to use it, was PLAN
-Z.☆ ☆ ☆‘What is this?’When Cian suddenly sensed a strange flow of Exar from the bodies of the things attacking him, he observed them closely.
The flow of the cores that had been supplying tremendous energy throughout the machines’ entire bodies had reversed in an instant.
To be precise, the massive amount of Exar that had been pouring through their bodies was flowing at tremendous speed into the magic formation inside the core.
Nevertheless, the reason the Arankal could maintain their relentless offensive was that the seven auxiliary cores embedded in the Arankal’s spine were operating to the point of overload, supplying energy throughout their bodies.
But it did not seem as though it would last long.
They were auxiliary cores created with tremendous technology and Talic Stones, but it was too much for them to keep up with the movements of Arankal that were using vast amounts of energy to produce combat power equivalent to a Gran
-Vander, without the main core.
As proof, the movements of the Arankal, which had quickly surrounded Cian and attacked him, gradually slowed, and the efficiency of their magic formations also decreased due to overload.
But the Arankal paid no attention to such things.
Rather, to prevent Cian from leaving his position, they operated even more fiercely, overloading every joint and magic formation as they continued their attacks.
After all, PLAN
-Z was fundamentally executed on the premise that all units carrying it out would be scrapped.
The Arankal bodies merely had to hold the Pa
-Harijan in place while the grand formation prepared to operate around their cores; then their mission would be complete.
Even if all the bodies were smashed to pieces, it did not matter so long as the great
-miracle was activated, and the cores too would be scrapped from overload after the grand formation operated.[Grand miracle formation activation preparations complete][First-class grand miracle,
The instant information that the formation was ready was input into the Arankal’s sensors, the ten cores surrounding Cian burst apart as though exploding.
According to the Law Mages’ calculations from the Imperial era, to eliminate “Killadepal,” they predicted that miracle magic would have to be activated with at least seven cores as its center.
All ten had activated, so the Arankal had carried out their mission splendidly.
In the places where the cores had burst, fiercely rotating grand formations emitted dazzling light, and the great miracle the grand formations sought to activate,
Even in the Empire, where Law-Magic Science had developed to an extreme degree, a grand miracle corresponding to first class was not something that could be used easily, and there were not many situations in which it was actually needed.
However, while conducting research on the Pa
-Harijan, the Law Mages were astonished by their true nature and judged that the use of a first-class miracle would be necessary in order to suppress a Pa
-Harijan. Among them, they devised the most efficient method.
The great
-miracle created in that way was
-Harijan, whose resistance to physical force, elemental force, Vander, and Exar was abnormally high because they were governed by laws different from those of the world.
-Harijan, distort the space to which the Pa
-Harijan belongs and throw it into another dimension.>There was no need to care which dimension it went to. All they had to do was remove it from before their eyes.
In truth, twisting and tearing space once was somewhat lacking to be called a first-class grand miracle. And that much was not enough for a Pa-
—nor could they be certain that they could reliably deal with Haryjan.
After meticulous calculations, the grand magi determined that only by folding, distorting, and rearranging space at least seven times could they drive out Killadepal.
Thus was created the new Class 1 Grand Miracle,
☆ ☆ ☆
Once per core. Seven cores meant seven spatial rearrangements.
The number of cores installed in the Arankal was ten.
In an instant, ten spatial rearrangements occurred with Sian at their center.
It was not simply a matter of folding space three more times. Each time space was folded, its power doubled.
In other words, a miracle eight times more powerful than the original
The change that occurred was not dramatic. Rather, it proceeded so quietly that the sounds of the Arankal units ceasing operation one by one and collapsing seemed louder.
The space around Sian seemed to ripple faintly like water and blur, and then, in the blink of an eye, that ripple surged over Sian like a wave.
Once… twice… three times…
In the space of an eye-blink, truly in an instant, space shuddered with a sharp tremor, and ten waves overlapped. Sian’s figure, hidden behind those waves, slowly blurred.
Before long, Sian’s fading figure vanished completely, and once he disappeared, the undulations that had covered the area around him also began to slowly subside.
All of this had happened less than a single second after the cores exploded and the miracle activated.
The last Arankal, watching the scene, emitted its final mechanical sound even as it shut down.
[Unregistered… danger grade “F” entity, exclusion… complete…….]
If it had been human, it would have looked as though it had collapsed with an extremely satisfied smile. The Arankal toppled forward.
At that moment.
Crackle!
From midair came the sound of something breaking.
Crack. Crunch. Grind.
The sound grew louder and louder, until at last, from empty air where there was nothing, something thrust out with a dull sound.
It was the tip of a blade.
The blade tip, protruding about the length of a finger joint, moved in every direction as though trying to pry open a gap, and in time with it, the sounds of breaking and shattering grew louder. Before long, even the sound of tearing began.
Riiip, craaack, shraaak.
By now, the sword, protruding as far as a man’s forearm, slashed and stirred in every direction, widening the dark rift in the empty air. When the gap had finally grown large enough for a person to pass through, someone suddenly popped out through it.
“Wow! That was a new experience.”
With an exclamation, Sian slipped out, and the torn space began to close the gap at great speed. Soon, not a single trace remained in the air.
Seeing that the empty air had completely mended itself, Sian looked around. When he saw that all the Arankal units had fallen, he pushed his power back into his heart and moved to clean up the surroundings.
☆ ☆ ☆
“Mm… I thought it was around here……”
Sian rummaged around to find the box the strange man had brought.
The items inside belonged to the state, so he had no right to them. He could not very well steal, could he?
But that small box, which emitted a mysterious light and absorbed the objects around it, seemed like something he could take.
At length, Sian found the box inside the bulkhead and recalled how the attempted thief from earlier had handled it. If he wanted to keep this box, he needed to empty out everything inside so there would be no loose ends.
The strange weapons the box had devoured earlier were objects Paryeon had said would belong to the state. If he swallowed those too, there would be trouble.
If that happened, the unfortunate situation might arise where he could not even keep the box, so he decided to return the weapons intact and swallow up only the box. A person should not be greedy. Besides, Sian was not actually interested in such useless toys.
When he activated the box the same way that man had earlier, red light began to pour wildly from inside.
Before entering this place, when the man had taken out the sword in front of the cliff, red light had also stretched out in every direction.
Soon, the strange weapons would surely fill the area in all directions……
‘Huh?’
Nothing came out. He had clearly done it exactly as he had seen from behind.
No matter how he touched the box and operated Bander, only red light extended outward, and nothing came out from inside.
This was a problem. The charge of theft would fall on him. After all, he was the only one who had remained here until the very end.
Sian, who had suddenly found himself on the verge of becoming a thief, began thinking hard to resolve the situation. Before long, he decided to draw the best possible conclusion under the current circumstances.
☆ ☆ ☆
‘…
What exactly is going on?’
After returning to the lord’s castle by spatial movement, Paryeon had heard Raka-Doom’s story, but he could not feel at ease at all. He was going around here and there, making his household prepare to evacuate.
It would have been good if he could check the situation there through “Kranga,” but because he had used spatial movement three times in one day and exhausted all the Exar that had been charged, “Kranga” was no longer functioning.
Since it would take a full day more for the recharge to be completed, Paryeon felt as though his eyes and ears had been blocked.
While evacuating with an uneasy feeling, Paryeon kept glancing toward the cliff, and a strange sight caught his eyes.
“Uh… u-uhhh?”
“What is that?”
Apparently he was not the only one who had seen it, as all the household members nearby were rubbing their eyes and staring at the distant cliff.
Amid them, one person looked at the unfolding sight and shouted.
“The cliff… the cliff is collapsing!”
Strictly speaking, the entire mountainside that included the cliff was collapsing.
☆ ☆ ☆
“Heh heh, with this, there’s no way I’ll be found out.”
If he collapsed it clumsily, there was a risk they would insist on digging into it, so he released his power once and brought the entire mountain down in one clean collapse. There was nothing left in the armory anyway, so he had nothing to worry about.
Around Sian’s neck, the box he had obtained from the strange man was threaded onto a cord and hung like a necklace, dangling beneath his clothes. Since it was such a small box, he could carry it around as a necklace.
“Ni… Tsumatan… Nitsumatan, huh. Heh heh. Heheheheh. Hahahahahaha!”
After reading the letters written on the box and learning that its name was
He had not cared about those toy soldiers earlier, but this fellow’s uses would be endless. It would greatly help improve his quality of life.
Once everything was settled, Sian thought of Baron Paryeon. At that, his improved mood began to plunge straight back down.
It was only because it was him that he had survived without much trouble. If those things from earlier had been left alone, they would have been more than capable of destroying about half of Tian.
Judging by Baron Paryeon’s incredibly fast escape speed earlier, he had to have known just how terrifying the things that attacked Sian were.
Sian had not expected him to risk death together with him, but if he had known those things were dangerous, shouldn’t he at least have pretended to take Sian and run? If he had, Sian would not be this furious.
He had asked Sian to stop them, then promptly fled the moment something happened!
While wondering just how much of a beating would be appropriate, Sian launched himself toward the Kulan Barony, where Baron Paryeon was shivering from a sudden chill.
☆ ☆ ☆
The Kingdom of Usharan, the Chromata region, where a provincial La-Shar-Roa was located.
The La-Shar-Roa of the Kingdom of Usharan was strictly managed by the Dmitra royal family, and civilian entry was thoroughly controlled.
Tarnian, a Class 2 magus of the Kingdom of Usharan who managed that La-Shar-Roa, raised his eyebrows as he watched the La-Shar-Roa suddenly begin operating.
There had been absolutely no scheduled operation for the La-Shar-Roa today.
Just as he was about to gather the magi and technicians below him to check whether an error had occurred, light exploded from the La-Shar-Roa, and an enormous amount of military supplies and countless mechanical weapons began pouring out.
Those mechanical weapons had a familiar appearance even to Tarnian. Tarnian had once belonged to the “Arankal Armory.”
“…
This is!”
Seeing the tremendous number of Kel-Lupun and Kanuan, Tarnian instinctively knew that something had happened to Sir Kurandas.
The Nitsumatan subspace he had taken on this mission possessed a special function.
If the heart of the user recognized as the master of the subspace stopped, then at that moment, the inner space of Nitsumatan’s subspace would connect to the predesignated La-Shar-Roa. Then all the items inside would pour out through that designated La-Shar-Roa.
It was a function that the grand magus Nitsumatan had painstakingly added in order to prevent the enormous amount of military supplies inside from being seized if the master of Nitsumatan’s subspace died in an unexpected accident or was captured by enemy forces.
Even if they lost the subspace, it was better than having the vast military supplies inside stolen in their entirety.
The activation of this function meant… that Sir Kurandas had died.
But at the same time, Tarnian realized that Sir Kurandas had splendidly completed the mission to seize the armory. After all, such a tremendous number of Kel-Lupun and Kanuan did not exist in their own armory.
Sir Kurandas had exchanged his life to secure Usharan’s future.
Tarnian immediately called his subordinates and ordered them to lock down the entire vicinity of the La-Shar-Roa, then sent word to the Dmitra royal family.
They could not let his life be in vain.
If they succeeded in operating those forces intact… there would no longer be any reason to keep grappling with the Kingdom of Kon, nor any reason to join hands with those disgusting bastards of the Kingdom of Taran.
That, too, would surely be what Sir Kurandas wished.