-Chiik.
White smoke began to fill the inside of the laboratory.
The white smoke was paralyzing gas.
"......!"
Gabriel instinctively tried to stop time but hesitated.
In a sealed space with nowhere to escape, stopping time would only waste his own time in the end.
Gabriel's legs gave out, and he collapsed into his seat.
After confirming Gabriel's condition, Nikolai opened the firmly locked door and entered.
Wearing a gas mask, Nikolai looked at Gabriel writhing on the floor and the corners of his eyes curved upward.
"I thought you were a rat sneaking in, but looking at your state, you truly look like an insect that's been hit with pesticide.""You, this, bastard......"
"And your language is foul too. This is why one shouldn't associate with worthless beings."
Nikolai removed his gas mask, brought over a nearby chair, sat down, and crossed one leg over the other.
"Having mastered such magic, yet all you do is petty theft and gambling. Your deceased master must be shedding tears of blood at this."
"Shut up!"
Gabriel glared at Nikolai with murderous eyes.
As if that was all he could do.
-Bang! Bang!
Vibrations from the ceiling caused dust to fall.
Nikolai glanced upward and chuckled.
"They're fighting persistently. But they won't hold out for long."
"You, what exactly have you done......"
"Curious? Well, I find it rather lonely to enjoy this pleasure by myself. I'll show you as a parting gift before sending you off."
Nikolai said this while pulling out a crystal ball from his inner pocket.
Light emanated from the crystal ball, projecting the outside situation into the air like a hologram.
The magnified view showed a mechanical god hovering majestically in the air with four giant mechanical arms.
The surroundings were filled with traces of destruction.
Overturned earth. Fires caused by leaked gas. Destroyed cars and houses, corpses scattered everywhere.
"A monster?"
That was Gabriel's first impression upon seeing the mechanical god.
"No, a god. A god who judges and purifies arrogant humans, those who have become utterly corrupted."
"That thing is a god?"
"Let me ask you the opposite. What is a god? Is a god a lofty and great being? An omnipotent embodiment of ideals who looks down benevolently on humans?"
Not at all.
Nikolai let out a twisted sneer.
"That is a god. Pure power, an absolute position that no one dares to oppose. Good and evil don't matter. If it can destroy and create everything, that's a god."
God created humans.
And those humans, in turn, create new gods.
Like a snake biting its own tail.
An endless, infinite vortex.
Nikolai was convinced he had become that connection point.
"John Doe will die there. Most of this island will be purified. And this Isla Machina will step up to a new place. As a Tower of Babel to overthrow the old gods."
"You're insane. You think things will go your way? Your plan will never succeed."
Nikolai frowned deeply at Gabriel's remark.
He was irritated at having cold water thrown on his elevated mood.
Nikolai stood up from his chair and kicked Gabriel's jaw with his boot.
Gabriel's jaw twisted sharply, but he didn't stop sneering.
"Doesn't even tickle. You personally administered anesthesia so it wouldn't hurt."
"......Ha."
Nikolai was about to kick Gabriel again but suddenly seemed to have a good idea and changed the image in the crystal ball.
"Right. Killing you here would be boring. With so much for you to see, dying now would be a waste, wouldn't it?"
The image Nikolai showed displayed a young girl lying on a bed.
Gabriel's pupils dilated to the point of tearing.
"Rene!"
"You even attacked the New Magic Tower to save that girl, right? She must be quite important to you."
"......"
"So watch carefully. Watch as that girl dies before your eyes."
Currently, Cravat was beside Rene, busy casting a curse.
The black curse power rising around formed a magic circle surrounding Rene's body.
Cravat was focusing on eliminating the divine power fluctuating in Rene's body.
"An interesting situation, isn't it?"
"How, exactly?"
There shouldn't be any devices left in the hideout to monitor that scene.
There should be no way to clearly see inside the room now.
"Why do you think there isn't? There's always been a surveillance device sticking by your side."
"Don't tell me... the automaton?"
Gabriel thought of the special-grade automaton.
"Did you think the Eye of God only makes surveillance devices mine? Not at all. I can peek at anything that can be seen. Even in the case of household automatons."
"No way......"
"Of course, I cannot control them remotely, but I can easily watch in real-time like this. My subordinates will take care of the rest."
Even as Nikolai spoke, the collision sounds from outside grew louder.
"Still fighting? Well, if that's the case, I'll be kind and let you see everything."
The crystal ball's image split into two.
One side showed the mechanical god destroying the third-floor city.
The other showed Cravat diligently treating Rene.
Gabriel wanted to shut his eyes tightly but couldn't because in his view, he could see Rudger still fighting against the mechanical god.
Rudger, who had been caught by the mechanical arm, strongly released his magical power to break free from its grasp, and then charged at the mechanical god with weapons made of magical power in both hands.
-Are you going to give up?
Why was Rudger's question suddenly coming to mind now?
Does struggling really change anything? What if this becomes a meaningless struggle?
If failure is certain, isn't it wiser not to try at all?
Why engage in the foolish act of willingly suffering pain?
-The attempt itself has value.
Rudger's voice was heard, though it was impossible to actually hear him.
It was an auditory hallucination.
Rudger had never actually said such things.
Nevertheless, the reason Gabriel heard Rudger's voice was probably because he firmly believed that's what Rudger would say.
"Just making the attempt has value."
I may not like you.
I really don't want to admit it.
But still.
This seems right.
Gabriel closed his eyes.
Seeing this, Nikolai was about to mock him about giving up completely.
If something hadn't happened beyond the screen.
"What's going on?"
Whiron was sprawled out in the crater.
His condition looked serious, having been caught in a massive explosion.
Muscles torn, bones broken, exposed skin either charred black or covered in red bloodstains.
Despite looking like a horrific corpse, Whiron was still alive.
‘Inhale. Exhale.’
Whiron regulated his breathing.
Breathing in and out oxygen, he circulated magical power through his body.
The stimulated regenerative cells worked busily, raising his metabolism to the extreme to heal wounds.
He had unbelievable stamina and regenerative ability for a human.
The mechanical god, fighting Rudger, assessed Whiron’s condition and sent one of its mechanical arms.
The mechanical arm with sharpened fingernails shot towards Whiron's heart.
Even for Whiron, lying defenseless now, there was no way to block or avoid it.
"Lord Whiron!"
Rotheron called out to him, and Whiron, with half-open eyes, saw the mechanical arm flying toward him.
Damn, if only he had a little more time.
Just as Whiron sensed his own demise and was about to give up everything, a dark red slash flew in and struck the mechanical arm forcefully.
-Kwagagagak!
The crescent-shaped slash pushed against the mechanical arm with enough force to sever its wrist.
The mechanical arm targeting Whiron had to change direction to resist the slash.
A strange wave emanated from the mechanical arm, weakening the slash.
At that moment, another dark red energy slash flew in.
-Kwang!
Whiron's eyes widened as he saw the mechanical arm being deflected.
His trembling pupils captured the back of a black knight landing in front of him.
"Who... are you?"
The black knight with a greatsword on his shoulder slightly turned his head to answer Whiron's question.
"Someone who owes a debt."
"A debt, you say?"
"If I leave after incurring a debt."
The black knight emitted enormous energy from the greatsword in his hand.
"It would go against the code of chivalry."
First Order, Black Knight Verom.
Once again wearing the living armor, he gripped his greatsword and charged toward the mechanical god fighting Rudger.
The mechanical god turned its attention to Verom, the newly appeared enemy.
"Dodge!"
Rudger warned Verom about the beam of light the mechanical god was about to fire.
At that moment, Verom's body spun in mid-air.
The black cloak on his back whirled like a top, concealing Verom's body, and immediately after, a beam of light containing enormous energy struck Verom's cloak.
-Pung!
The black cloak had a hole punched through its center but Verom, who should have been behind it, was nowhere to be seen.
The mechanical god turned its head to track Verom's movements.
By the time it looked where Verom was, he had already jumped to another location by stepping on debris.
When it turned to look behind, Verom had vanished again, as if mocking its gaze.
Verom jumped around like a spring, stepping on metal debris floating in the air.
His movements were much more agile and faster than when he fought Rudger, so much so that the mechanical god couldn't capture his movements.
-Tuwung!
The black line that had been drawing complex patterns in the air shot toward the mechanical god.
One of the mechanical arms spread its palm wide to block the front like a shield, but the black line slid smoothly downward upon touching the palm and raced along the forearm.
A black blade flashed sharply at the end of the line.
-Kang!
The mechanical god raised its main body's arm to block Verom's sword.
Verom's appearance, revealed while locked in a test of strength, had changed considerably from before.
If previously it was a heavy and sturdy full-body armor, now it had a much more streamlined form.
'The armor has changed?'
The thick gloves had been compressed into a form that clung tightly to the body, and instead of the cloak thrown off his back, red mane-like hair flowing from the back of the helmet fluttered in the wind.
The greatsword had also narrowed to match the armor's form, changing to the shape of a regular longsword.
It was a form that maximized mobility at the cost of defense.
It seemed the output had also decreased, as Verom gradually began to be pushed back, unable to maintain his initial momentum.
At that moment, a red light flashed from a distance and flew toward the mechanical god's body.
Verom retreated at the right timing, and explosions occurred around the mechanical god.
Verom landed on debris floating near Rudger.
"So you decided to come back after all."
"I can't live with a debt."
Verom answered without looking back at Rudger.
Unlike when he was controlled by the living armor, this was Verom's own way of speaking.
"So you ended up accepting the curse?"
"After being stuck with it for over a decade, whether sleeping or eating, I guess I've grown fond of it."
Verom muttered candidly, as if even he didn't understand his choice.
But despite his words, the newly transformed state of the living armor indicated that Verom had accepted the armor.
"So escaping a curse isn't just about getting rid of it, but accepting it can also be a way?"
"Well, somehow it turned out that way. But that's not what's important right now."
"True."
Rudger nodded in agreement with Verom's words.
Bombardments from afar continuously pounded the mechanical god.
There was a defense force on Isla Machina that served as guards protecting the interior.
Armed with the latest magitech weapons, they possessed armaments and skills not inferior to a regular national army.
And throughout the islands that made up Isla Machina, there were defense lines prepared against external invasions.
The current bombardment was the result of redirecting gun batteries installed on the outskirts of the second and fourth floors to concentrate fire on the mechanical god.
"It seems to be Nikolai's proudly created final experimental subject, but no matter how strong it is, with this level of bombardment..."
Verom couldn't finish his sentence.
This was because the mechanical god enveloped in red explosions appeared completely unscathed.
The mechanical god, with its four mechanical arms spread like a halo, was perfectly fine amidst such bombardment.
Confirming this, the defense force fired shells again from a distance.
Tracer bullets scattering red light in the air flew toward it.
Seeing this, the mechanical god extended one of its mechanical arms.
A strange wave spread from its palm, swallowing the incoming tracer bullets.
The flying tracer bullets abruptly stopped in mid-air.
"What the?"
Verom was astonished at the sight.
"The ammunition and shells used by the defense force should be specially made to not be affected by electrical properties, metallic properties, or magnetic forces?"
Given the abundance of magicians on the island, they would have prepared thoroughly for such contingencies.
However, if there was one thing they overlooked, it was that they hadn't anticipated a singular attribute magician who could manipulate metal.
The direction of the shells frozen in mid-air slowly turned.
180 degrees while fixed in place.
-Tuwung.
As the mechanical arm lightly flicked its fingers, the shells returned even faster than they had come.
-Pubeobeobeobung!
The defensive gun batteries installed on the island were engulfed in red flames.
"This is crazy, can the defense force even handle this?"
"The defense force is insufficient."
Modern weapons are ineffective against the mechanical god.
It was the absolute ruler of modern warfare, the master of weaponry.
"If we need to defeat it, only a knight's aura or a magician's magic will work. What is the New Magic Tower doing?"
"It's strangely quiet. They seem to be watching each other carefully while dealing with internal matters."
"Is that so?"
Rudger's pupils sank heavily.
"If they won't come out, we'll have to make them come out."