Chapter 11: vs. Aggregation Machine Soldier ■■■・■■■■

As expected, another world fucking sucks! (Greeting)

I wanna hurry up and become Number One so I can go back to Earth! (Determination)

Yeah, hello. Tierra here.

I'm right in the middle of a boss fight.

And I am currently in the process of getting my ass killed.

Seriously, what the hell? What is this? What even is this?

Let me just say one thing for now. There is no fucking way this is winnable.

The enemy boss is a bizarre monster that looks like a pile of junk.

At its center is some sort of entity, with the remains of decayed ancient weapons, pieces of the ruins' walls, weapons belonging to intruders, and all sorts of other things wrapped around its entire body.

In other words, it's nothing more than a collection of random junk. But every piece of it is made from hard materials, like metal and the like.

I mean, sure, in a game, you could attack a steel enemy with a sword and still deal damage.

But in real life? No way. With these tiny twin swords and my skinny little arms, I can't even scratch it.

My swords, "Funeral" and "Rebirth," are Star Swords that govern reincarnation. They're actually ridiculously powerful swords, but their abilities only work on "life," which is part of the cycle of reincarnation. Against machines or inanimate matter that possess no "soul," they're astonishingly useless.

I'm currently coating my swords in lightning magic and swinging them around, but it feels like I'm barely doing any damage.

Well, that's to be expected with the firepower of my offensive magic. I'm a healer, after all.

I thought Rune would be a little more useful in battle, though... I mean, considering that girl's true identity...

Well, I guess it can't be helped if she hasn't awakened yet.

Still, considering that "that thing" calculated everything, there has to be a way for us to win.

Thinking about it, there's no doubt that "that thing" performed its calculations without including me.

In the first place, it probably didn't even recognize my existence.

You can understand that when you consider the relationship between Terra and "that thing."

That's precisely why my existence threw off its calculations as an irregularity during our battles against the monsters inside the dungeon.

But the mechanical monster we're fighting now has nothing to do with the dungeon's defense system itself.

It's one of the things that was sealed, not one of the things doing the sealing, so that's only natural.

There is absolutely no reason for my existence to be a disadvantage. If anything, I'm an advantage when it comes to combat power.

Therefore. I suppose that means Rune and Kizuna-kun have enough power to defeat it.

At the very least, "that thing" calculated it that way, and there's no way "that thing" would have gone easy on us when it came to "Chaos."

In that case, let's see it! The power of the original protagonist!

Because otherwise, I'm seriously going to die!

Why the hell do I have to trust some lunatic like that and put my life in his hands?! Fuck this!

If I die, I'll curse you for generations to come!

Back then, after Tierra-san said those words to me, I thought about it.

Did I really want to save this world?

I have no memories of the world I originally came from. But was I really willing to stake my life on saving this world, so far away from the place I could call my homeland?

I came to an answer. And I don't regret that answer. But it would have been a lie to say I had no anxiety or doubts whatsoever.

When Tierra-san was injured protecting me, I thought about it again.

Was I really going to continue down the path of saving the world, even knowing that it was so dangerous, even knowing that someone might get hurt?

The answer was—

—Of course I'm going to keep going.

The answer was decided. I had no more doubts or anxieties.

Tierra-san is lending me her strength even after getting hurt that badly.

She said that it was okay because she had healing magic. That she was used to rough situations.

But that's not true. I know because I've had my own injuries treated. Even with healing magic, pain is still pain. The blood you've lost probably doesn't just come back, either.

And yet, she's still helping me, even while hiding how much it hurts.

That's because Tierra-san believed in my resolve.

She probably hasn't completely accepted my choice. She knows the person I used to be, so she's worried about what might happen to me.

But even so, she accepted my resolve and lent me her strength.

Rune is the same.

Even though she's carrying her own deep anxieties, she believed my words and continued walking alongside me.

She woke up without knowing left from right. She didn't even have her own memories. And yet, for some reason, the words "World Eater" and "Chaos" were in her mind, accompanied by an inexplicable certainty.

And despite how utterly nonsensical I was, she believed me.

She came to believe in the kind of person I was through my most casual actions.

Rune. Tierra-san.

They believed in me.

Tierra-san believed in my past and my resolve.

Rune believed in my present and my ideals.

To those two—

If the world where Rune and Tierra-san live is in danger.

Then that's more than enough reason for me to fight.

The creepy enemy that looked like a pile of junk was rampaging.

Tierra-san and Rune were repeatedly attacking it with their respective weapons.

If that enormous body crushed you beneath it, that alone would be a fatal injury.

That's why the two of them repeatedly attacked and retreated, using hit-and-run tactics.

I'm not knowledgeable enough to judge, but both of them were displaying considerable skill.

And yet, they didn't seem to be having any effect on the steel monster.

Think. Think. Think!

That's all I can do right now. That's all I've got!

There has to be some way to break through this situation!

The monster was made up of strange parts I didn't understand, pieces of the ruins' walls, and the weapons and armor of the people who had presumably infiltrated this place.

A haphazard pile of junk.

There was absolutely no way it had been shaped like that from the very beginning.

If that's the case, then what I can think of is—

Something that gathered all those scattered pieces together. Something that was still holding them together in one place.

"It has a core."

If that's true, then all that scattered junk is armor.

Armor exists to protect something because it would be bad if it got hit.

And even if their twin swords and scythe couldn't damage it, I have magic.

What if I could hit the core directly?

There would definitely be a chance of victory.

Even while pouring magical power into my hands, I kept thinking.

I'm one hand short.

I have no way to expose the core.

What do I do? Think! Think! Something. There has to be something—

Then.

"I want to help. I want to be of use to Kizuna."

"...Rune?"

After attacking the monster, Rune retreated to my side and muttered those words.

She turned around and looked straight into my eyes.

It was obviously not the time for something like this in the middle of a battle. And yet, I thought her jet-black eyes were beautiful.

"This is how I feel. My first feeling, in this me who had nothing. That's why—!"

Then she raised her scythe and charged forward.

A charge that abandoned all defense.

That's reckless!

"Rune!"

Above her head as she ran, one of the junk-covered arms came crashing down, as if trying to crush her.

And then—

"■■, activate. 'That parting shall—

Her body was enveloped in darkness.

A black torrent surged out from her, and then—

—be guided by fate'!"

A raging torrent of black light was unleashed, swallowing the enemy whole!

Part of its sturdy armor melted away and disappeared.

Revealing a crystal-clear, translucent blue mass.

The core was exposed.

"Kizuna, now!"

"Got it! Go-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o!!!"

At Rune's words, I unleashed the magic I'd been charging.

Crimson flames shot straight forward, and then—!

Whoa. We actually won.

When Kizuna-kun and Rune-chan looked each other in the eyes and exchanged a few words, and then started some mysterious lovey-dovey scene, I felt a mild urge to kill them for doing that in the middle of a battle.

But since we won, I'll let it slide. Well done, you two! I knew you could do it!

For now, we're shutting down what seems to be the ruins' system.

For a supposedly terrifying defense system, it was surprisingly easy to stop. All it took was pressing a single button.

Well, when you think about it, I guess that makes sense.

This sealing system has been operating continuously for an incredibly long period of time—long enough for even the superweapons to decay and become unusable. If the system were too complicated, there would be a much higher chance of it breaking down over the course of all that time.

Besides, the people who created that system probably had enough confidence that nobody would ever make it this far. If it weren't for the world fusion, the ruins would probably still be buried deep underground somewhere.

Making sure the system could be stopped immediately in case of something like a malfunction is only logical.

"So everything's okay now, right?"

"Yes. The ruins' system has been completely shut down. I took a brief look around, and no black monsters have appeared. All that's left is to retrace our steps and speak to the soldiers guarding the original entrance."

"We're... going to get scolded."

"Well, we probably will... However, the results of our actions far outweigh that. They certainly won't be able to ignore us."

"Then let's go home!"

"I want to eat curry and rice."

No. That's not it.

Not yet.

'—Language analysis complete. Query presented. Requesting an answer to this unit's query.'

The event isn't over yet.