Rudger stared at Nikolai, a handsome man with curly hair, a visible forehead, and a somewhat greasy look.
Although he had conversed with him several times before, this was the first time he had actually faced him in person.
His relaxed smile contrasted with the hostility in his eyes.
"Brave of you. I thought you would run away immediately if you knew I was coming. Or perhaps set up a body double."
"I wanted to do that, but unfortunately, I'm a person with a heavy backside."
"I'm guessing you didn't anticipate a situation where you'd need to run away."
"......"
Nikolai was momentarily speechless at Rudger's sharp observation.
That was true.
Nikolai had always been the one setting the stage.He had been manipulating actors from behind the scenes to create the ideal situation he most desired.
Watching others struggle within their predetermined roles no matter how much they resisted.
That was the method Nikolai preferred.
That's why the current situation was truly unexpected for Nikolai.
An actor from his stage had invaded the audience area and reached right up to him, the scriptwriter.
"Hehehe. Yes. I'll admit it. They say wise rabbits dig multiple burrows, but that was unnecessary for me. Predators don't need to run away."
Predators are always the ones who devour.
Those who dig multiple burrows are always anticipating escape, fearing being eaten.
If you're at the top of the pyramid, there's no need to run away or prepare alternate routes.
Lions don't dig holes, after all.
"That arrogance is now tightening around your neck, Nikolai."
"Yes. Perhaps. But do you think I waited for you here without doing anything?"
Nikolai was confident.
Rudger observed him quietly and then quickly surveyed his surroundings.
Central Reactor.
From what he was saying, this place appeared to be the core of Isla Machina and acted like a giant power plant sending energy to the entire island.
This vast space was shaped like a massive dome, with a large spherical object placed in the center.
Around the sphere, machines and huge pipes were densely connected from top to bottom, resembling how stalactites and stalagmites meet to form columns in a cave.
It was the most important place, and also the one that shouldn't be tampered with.
"Did you think I couldn't use magic if I were here? Because if an explosion occurred, the entire island would be engulfed?"
"Oh my. Have you been thinking of me that simply? Of course, with your skills, you'd have countless ways to kill me without such extreme magic. Knowing this, the reason I met you here is because it's all over now."
"Your life?"
At those words, Nikolai burst into laughter, holding his stomach.
"Hahaha! John Doe. I didn't know you had such talent for humor. Had I known, I would have met you earlier for a chat."
"......"
"Don't you understand what my actions so far mean? I've been stalling for time. As if it doesn't matter whether I kill you or not."
Nikolai grinned as he gazed at the massive sphere that formed the island's core.
"This sphere is the world's strongest and largest heart, created by magicians and genius engineers. It's so sturdy that it doesn't crack even while containing steam from vaporizing tens of thousands of tons of water."
"What does that have to do with this situation?"
"Will you listen to me until the end? For a long time, I've contemplated one possibility. What would it be like if there existed a being composed of machine, biology, and magic?"
Rudger felt an indescribable unease from Nikolai's explanation.
But at the same time, he could tell that Nikolai was revealing the truth he had kept hidden until now.
"John Doe. Being favored by Zero Order, you would know how perfectly imperfect this world is."
Perfect imperfection, that was how Nikolai evaluated the current world.
An intricate clockwork mechanism created by someone.
Even the misaligned and broken parts within it were merely elements flowing according to the "plan."
Why?
If one could create such perfection, surely they could have excluded such failures and imperfect remnants.
Was this entity called the Device Keeper truly trying to create art, as Viktor said?
Nikolai didn't like that.
Was even his awareness and realization part of the Device Keeper's arrangement?
If so, was his attempt to sabotage this stage also intended by the Device Keeper?
"I can't stand it. I don't mind if someone looks down on me. That's their choice. But being manipulated makes me nauseous."
"So that's why you've done this?"
"If what I think of as the Device Keeper is what most call God, what would that God think of my actions? Is my rebellion something that God prearranged? Or would God be displeased by my actions that exceed expectations? This is a kind of experiment."
"You......"
Rudger realized something significant from Nikolai's words.
"What exactly have you created?"
Nikolai frowned as if displeased.
"This is why I don't like you. Do you feel better by stealing this major announcement?"
"Cut the nonsense and tell me what you've made."
"It's simple. If I'm really just a role created by the Device Keeper, then conversely, is it a permitted act for that role to create a new Device Keeper and scriptwriter? This is the answer to that question."
"A new scriptwriter?"
"Another god."
-Kigigik.
No sooner had Nikolai finished speaking than an unpleasant metallic sound rang in their ears.
Realizing it was coming from the ceiling, Rudger looked up.
Something was trying to emerge from among the tangled wires, pipelines, and metal debris.
Something viscous, composed of what looked like chunks of living flesh, was pushing through the gaps in the metal.
Like something awakening in an egg, trying to be born.
Or like something struggling to break free from something confining.
"I decided to call it the God of Machinery."
The stretched mass of flesh tore through the membrane and spewed its contents outward.
Suspended from the ceiling by something like an umbilical cord, it eventually fell downward due to gravity.
-Thud.
-Plop.
What fell exactly between Rudger and Nikolai resembled a human without skin.
The only thing that could be called mechanical was the hole in the place of its heart, occupied by a black metal sphere.
Seeing this thing, which was miraculously alive, Rudger instinctively flinched, feeling a chill run down his spine.
-Grrrr.
The God of Machinery moaned like a dying person.
It showed not a fraction of the dignity its name suggested but Rudger instinctively realized that he needed to kill it now when it was the most vulnerable.
He had to kill it here, or else.
The moment Rudger revealed his killing intent, the God of Machinery jerked its head and stared at Rudger.
'It responded to my killing intent.'
It had an instinct comparable to that of a beast or a sense but Rudger didn't stop.
He released the magical power gathered at his fingertips, shooting a beam of light toward the creature's vital points - its forehead and heart.
It was the fastest and sharpest attack Rudger could use.
No matter how keen its senses, it couldn't respond after seeing this.
Such thoughts shattered the moment he witnessed what followed.
-Fwaaash!
Something erupted colorfully on the skin of the God of Machinery, deflecting Rudger's light magic.
Though thin and slender, the beam contained enough heat to melt steel.
Yet it curved as if refracted by something.
What had emerged on the God of Machinery's skin was metal with a smooth surface.
"Metal?"
"I told you it's the God of Machinery."
Nikolai answered mockingly.
The God of Machinery, apparently enraged at being attacked, displayed hostility toward Rudger.
-Kraaak!
When it let out a tearing scream, the Central Reactor space vibrated.
It wasn't vibration due to volume. The entire space was responding to the God of Machinery's anger and emotions.
-Kigigik.
The metals forming the vast spherical space of the Central Reactor began to move one by one, starting to gather toward the God of Machinery.
Eventually, the God of Machinery was surrounded by a cocoon made of metal.
Witnessing this strange sight, Rudger stared at Nikolai.
"What exactly did you put in that thing?"
"Everything I had."
"It manipulates metal. That form is almost like......"
"Yes. Like a single-element mage, right?"
Nikolai nodded, confirming that the guess was correct.
"An Iron Colour Magician went in there."
"Iron Colour Magician? That position was vacant."
"It was vacant. But did you think no one in this world had such talent? I just happened to find a bud before its talent bloomed."
The rest of the story was predictable.
Seeing the current result, asking what happened to that person would be foolish.
"The human body is weak. Even when trying to implant machinery, it causes tremendous rejection. Even an Iron Colour Magician with strong resonance to metal ended up like that. So I used a stronger life force."
"World Tree cells......"
"Yes, that's right. And I also joined hands with the Bourgeois of the New Tower to add magical knowledge. But that wasn't enough. I perfectly created the shell, but I lacked the heart to operate it."
Rudger recalled the black sphere in the chest of the God of Machinery.
"Can such a small power source produce this much output?"
"Don't you find it strange? Even with the advancement of magical engineering, there's a core that covers this entire island with machinery and keeps it moving endlessly."
This Central Reactor was the nucleus of Isla Machina.
It was the heart of the island that collected, boiled, and rotated steam capable of moving the entire island.
No matter how advanced magical engineering was, it would be impossible to keep such enormous energy constantly moving.
Yet that massive core existed.
Such a thing couldn't just be there without someone creating it.
"Originally, the developer of this core didn't create something from nothing. Rather, he added his imagination and flesh based on one object."
"Are you saying there's a separate key that could be called the original?"
"Why do you ask? You, who have been desperately searching for it recently, should know. The thing that makes this miracle possible."
"......Relic."
"Yes. A very old special artifact whose creator, time of creation, and purpose are unknown. This island, Isla Machina, can operate thanks to the power of that relic."
It was an unexpected truth.
But at the same time, it was a satisfactory explanation for how such a massive mechanical island could function properly.
Relic, a divine tool said to have been created by forgotten and confined gods from the distant past.
Besides the relic Rudger was looking for, other relics existed somewhere on this continent.
One of them was here in Isla Machina.
"I reprocessed that relic as material and gave it to the God of Machinery. The most essential heart, the Divine Furnace."
A black metal heart made based on a relic.
The body of an Iron Colour Magician.
Life force processed from World Tree cells.
And on top of that, all kinds of magical treatments and knowledge of black magic.
How much material, money, and time went into it?
"So all those experimental subjects until now were......"
"Yes! They were nothing but leftovers to birth just one god!"
And that god had now awakened.
-Crack!
The metal cocoon split open left and right, spreading wide like wings.
From inside, the God of Machinery revealed itself once more.
Unlike its first incomplete appearance, it was now in its complete form.