Chapter 38

[biological CPU, test boot.]

Pat-!

Rael's eyes, which had met death at Yaan's pistol, opened.

His arms and legs were bound, but he realized that his body had arrived inside the Tauros he had so desperately sought.

"Ha, so this was fate after all!"

Speaking thus, Rael trembled with rapture. At the very moment he had thought everything was over, the Ancient ruin had stretched out a hand of salvation toward him!

"Good! If I simply activate Tauros like this, I can subjugate the elves by force!"

The ambition that had been extinguished by death burst into flame once more.

Rael clenched the control stick and tried to move Tauros at once.

"Wait, why, my arm won't...?"

Sensing the bizarre feeling that his body would not obey his will, Rael looked at himself in bewilderment.

It was dead.

Everything except his head and heart-his whole body-was dead and black.

"Wh-what is this, what happened...!"

Speaking thus, Rael stared at the extinguished black screen that reflected his face like a mirror.

Reflected there, the back of his neck was connected to every sort of chilling mechanical device.

"Wh-what have you done to my body?"

At the moment he cursed like that-

[Boot confirmed. Re-adjusting user compatibility to suit this Frame.]

"Wh-what are you saying, Tauros! You'll readjust me?"

The hierarchy had been reversed.

Originally, the user registration procedure should adjust the rider to suit the Frame, not the other way around.

Yet the owner of the voice that held his body continued to deliver emotionless notifications.

[Significant defects confirmed in internal organs. Transplanting mechanical devices to replace damaged organs.]

[Necrosis of nerve cells confirmed. Extracting and replacing with dedicated sensors.]

[Post-mortem rigidity of extremities confirmed. Considering cost-effectiveness, amputating and suturing.]

Along with countless mechanical sounds, chilling noises filled the cockpit packed with machinery.

"W-wait! Stop it! I never asked for...!"

The apparatus that had accepted Rael's lifeless, limp body now began to readjust him to suit itself.

Kkkkgggg-!

The wildly whirring saw blade began to sever his limbs.

"Aaaaargh!"

As the blade tore flesh and shattered bone, blood gushed out, yet the machine indifferently severed both arms and both legs.

"Argh! Aaaargh! Uwaaaaargh!"

Bee-!

[Primary shock confirmed. Engaging primary fuse for reboot.]

[Boot initiated.]

Pat!

"Guuuh!?"

Rael, who had died from shock due to the agony, awoke. The chilling sensation still lingered in his mind.

Before his forcibly opened eyes hung his own form, all limbs severed, dangling limply.

"No, th-this...! This isn't what I wanted...!"

[Boot confirmed. Initiating secondary procedure.]

Wheeeee-!

Scrape! Scrape!

Confirming Rael had regained consciousness, the AI moved again. To incise the brain with damaged nerve cells, his hair was shaved away. Not calculating the dimensions of a human skull, bone and flesh were lopped off in chunks, but the machine paid no heed.

Naturally, Rael, who felt his head being sliced off bone and all, could hardly share that indifference.

"Aaaaaah! Just kill meee!"

The moment the saw blade touched the surface of his brain, facial muscles contorted and Rael bit through his tongue and expired.

[Signal lost. Injecting secondary fuse, rebooting.]

Pat-!

"Ugh! Uuuuugh!?"

Gurgle! Gurgle!

The suction unit that had entered through the lower hole finished its task and instantly sucked out the now-stilled internal organs.

Subsequent devices began to replace his dead body, one by one restoring its functions.

"Ah... Aaah...!"

Die and revive, die and revive again-Rael tasted every fragment of that dreadful pain.

His mind was tortured by the machine to the point that the ambition and grand cause he had once harbored seemed less than trash on the roadside.

[Procedure and suturing complete. Securing user's body.]

Yet, regardless of Rael's wish for death, his body gradually regained its functions.

Or could one even call this recovery?

Both arms and both legs amputated, nerve sensors driven into the remaining spinal column.

A body pierced through and fixed by mechanical devices.

Hundreds of iron pins driven into the brain to control the massive Frame.

Hair, clothing, and every bodily organ the AI deemed an obstacle to Frame control were excised; Rael was no longer the ambitious young elf of old.

A mere processing unit, seized by the machine, inputting predetermined signals.

The elf who had sought to create a new world through humanity's legacy had himself become a component of that legacy.

"Ueh... Uweeeh..."

Rael's eyes, weeping bloody tears from burst capillaries. His pupils were already dilated, and from nose and mouth flowed a murky liquid, accompanied by a wail-whether speech, scream, or regret for his own deeds, no one could tell.

A wail.

Right. He was no longer a being possessing intellect.

The one possessing intellect was the AI.

Intellect was granted only to those carrying the mission to rebuild human civilization.

Such was the end of the foolish life that had dared use it for personal gain.

"Auwooooh!"

Ambition-mad Rael shrieked.

Yes. It dawned on him.

He wanted to kill the human who had reduced him to this state.

Terminal 01 might have accepted him, but I did not. A dull man born of mercy, devoid of any will to rebuild humanity, lacking even a shred of ambition.

I do not acknowledge him.

Humanity's successor is not such a one.

My newly awakened body drew all power from the reconstruction facility.

Three days hence. When that time passes, I shall emerge into the world and fulfill my mission.

In the land of the great humans who created me, those despicable creations have arrogantly taken their place.

Wait. I will come for you.

My name is Tauros.

I shall carry out the command input into me to the end.

Reenact the glory of humanity.

Reenact the glory of humanity.

Reenact the glory of humanity.

Reenact the glory of humanity.

Reenact the glory of humanity.

***

Lieutenant Yaan, return!

The excavation base was in turmoil from an untimely earthquake.

At the sentry's voice, the knights inspecting the defensive line turned as one.

"Lieutenant Yaan!"

Yaan, who had infiltrated deep into the forest with Ren, had returned.

"Welcome back. Any results?"

Seeing Cain approach and ask like that, Yaan answered without changing his expression.

"I've exposed Rael's corruption. The elf forces in the forest have been dismantled."

"W-what!?"

The one who let out a dumbfounded cry was Walter, watching from the rear.

"If that's true...! You've pulled off something enormous!"

Saying so, Walter placed a hand on Yaan's shoulder.

But Cain, having checked Yaan's expression, asked him with a hardened face.

"The situation doesn't look good. What happened?"

Hearing Cain's words, Yaan spoke at once.

"The ancient weapon deep inside the ruin has awakened. In three days, it will start up."

"What!?"

The mood, which had seemed ready to soar sky-high, plummeted into the abyss in an instant.

"You mean Rael has gotten his hands on the ancient weapon?"

"That's not it. We must first withdraw every dig team in this area."

"Understood. Do it."

Having grasped Yaan's warning, Cain immediately had someone issue the withdrawal order.

And at the same time, the knights gathered close to listen to Yaan's words.

"It's true Rael boarded the ancient weapon, but he is not the one controlling it."

With Ren, who had hidden herself lest her identity be exposed, Yaan took over the explanation.

"Rather, the opposite. He is being controlled by the machine."

"You're saying the ancient weapon possesses its own will?"

"Yes. And the Frame's personality has gone mad over a long, long time."

The knights tilted their heads, not understanding, but the excavation team members who heard it turned pale.

"The Administrator has gone berserk-this is a national disaster!"

The excavation team member shouted and urgently cut into the conversation. His face, drenched in cold sweat, looked frantic.

"Thirty years ago, an Ancient relic called the 'Ancestor's Glory' sleeping inside the ruin was excavated! But the moment we tried to remove it, a voice claiming to be the Administrator began to warn us, and soon...!"

"The ocean city of Milland, with a population of two hundred thousand, vanished without a trace."

A familiar voice cut into the team member's warning. The knights turned their heads as one.

"Your Highness!?"

"What brings you here!"

Prince Klaus, dressed like the excavation team members, appeared, and the knights' eyes widened.

"With four colossi including Cain here, wouldn't this side be safer?"

"Does that mean...?"

"The frontline base was also attacked. It was a small-scale guerrilla force of elves."

Having said that, the prince turned to the knights.

"If the great weapon is about to run wild, even the palace cannot overlook the matter."

"Even if we call for reinforcements from the main force, if it awakens in a few days..."

"Can't we assault it from inside the ruin?"

"They've already set up double or triple layered barriers. Even if the colossi smash through, the ancient weapon will awaken in that time."

The 13th Prince had spent most of his time surveying the Ancient ruins.

It was an unglamorous post that did nothing for a royal's career, yet in a situation like this he had more experience than any commander.

"Do we have information on the ancient weapon's form, speed, and size?"

"I recorded it while exploring the ruin."

Saying so, Yaan showed a drawing on a small piece of paper.

"Heh, you had such talent?"

"I didn't draw it."

The sight of Ren producing a flawless drawing as if stamped from a template was eerie no matter how often one saw it.

"I thought it was simple digging work; I never imagined something like this."

With those words the prince pulled a well-worn booklet from his pocket.

Thick notes bristled with bookmarks.

Comparing the prince's own handwritten records, he began to compile data on the ancient weapon Tauros.

"Good. At this scale, we can try something."

Having decided, Klaus spoke to the knights.

"Walter, Kurks, dig a tunnel of this size at the marked spot."

The hastily scrawled memo from Klaus listed survey data: depth, width.

"If the two of you work in shifts, the job will be finished today."

"Understood."

Starting with the two knights who answered, Klaus's orders were given to the knights stationed all around.

"Lieutenant Yaan."

"Yes."

At last Klaus called Yaan and spoke.

"You'll be the key in this fight as well. Check your armament for the battle that will come in a few days. Request support at once if you need it."

"Understood."

"The cannon you dug up this time-efficiency drops to forty percent if we reproduce it on our side, I hear."

"That's right."

"But it can still keep the enemy at range. Shift as much maintenance staff as possible to producing shells."

Having given his orders, Prince Klaus looked around at the knights and Yaan.

"The operation's objective is to stop-or destroy-the ancient weapon that will awaken again. This will be a harsher battle than any we have faced; prepare thoroughly."

At the prince's words the knights saluted as one.

"May fortune favor you all."

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