1025: Bringer of Hope

「The best use……? What do you mean?」

The Silver Lady appeared out of nowhere to save us. Fran seemed to sense something in her words “to make the best use of myself”.

However, the Silver Lady did not respond to her question. She instead held her hand out in front of me while dodging the antidemon’s barrage of magic bullets.

「?」

「Sharing data…… Circuit secured.」

『W-What are you doing?』

「I am exchanging data with another entity of the same type.」

《Affirmative. Confirming the sharing of data and domain access. Functionality has been temporarily restored.》

By “entity of the same type”, she meant Announcer-san! I guess Announcer-san woke up temporarily due to some kind of connection with the Silver Lady. The best reinforcements I could ask for at this critical moment!

《Beginning movement. Activate teleportation.》

『R-Roger!』

With Announcer-san’s assistance, I felt confident that my teleport would work without issue. I activated a long-range teleport following my instincts.

We managed to make so much distance that the giant antidemon gave up on targeting us. However, reviving Announcer-san and helping us escape didn’t seem to be the Silver Lady’s main goal.

The two began some sort of exchange in a mechanical tone.

「Information retrieval complete.」

《Synchronization complete…… Are you certain you wish to do this?》

「Yes, there is no issue. This is much more efficient than simply rotting away.」

《……I shall not let this go to waste.》

「Thank you very much.」

What’s that supposed to mean? It seems the two were communicating in an exchange I couldn’t see, so they understood each other somehow……

『H-Hey. What are you guys talking about?』

I felt a little restless and uneasy because of the strange atmosphere. I didn’t sense any danger, but is it really okay if I let things go on like this?

《I am deeply sorry. However, this needs to be done.》

「I take full responsibility. You don’t have to worry about anything.」

『Come on! What are――』

I was trying to ask for details when…

My sword blade rose up and――poke.

『Wha―!?』

「Master!」

「Woof!」

My startled voice synchronized with the screams of Fran and Urushi, who was in Fran’s shadow.

「Why!?」

『I-It wasn’t me! Announcer-san! What’s the meaning of this!?』

My blade moved on its own and stabbed through the Silver Lady’s chest. Fran had her hands on me, but she wasn’t able to hold me back since she never expected anything like this.

Fran stared at her hands with her eyes wide open. She couldn’t believe what she just saw.

Announcer-san was the one responsible for this. But why? Wasn’t the Silver Lady friendly? As if ignoring our surprise, the golem shook her head in the usual manner.

「Please be at ease. This is what I asked for.」

「But… why……?」

「As I said earlier, I want to make the best use of myself.」

The Silver Lady smiled as she gently placed her hand on the blade piercing her.

「Are you ready?」

《Affirmative. Beginning integration.》

Immediately after, I felt a tremendous amount of power flowing into me. But this power was not simply mana.

It contained something more important. A mysterious power filled my internal systems, reinforcing them.

『T-This is……!』

「!」

Fran made an attempt to pull me out, but it was apparently no longer possible. The Silver Lady’s body got pulled alongside me, falling into Fran’s arms.

Even as Fran held her up, the Silver Lady didn’t so much as twitch. She looked as silent as a corpse, but it was difficult to tell her actual condition. This was a golem without flesh or blood.

Still in Fran’s arms, the Silver Lady’s body soon began glowing faintly. This was followed by her hair and fingertips crumbling into grains of light.

「Your body is…!」

「This is fine.」

『How can this be fine……!? Hey, what’s going……? Wha-! The light!』

《Proceeding as planned. Take in the light.》

『No, but!』

The light from the Silver Lady’s body came to me as if drawn by my blade. Not only that, but it was clearly being absorbed into me.

None of this was my doing.

Announcer-san and the Silver Lady were the ones responsible.

Though in shock, I could feel my power returning. I had been exhausted and depleted throughout my battles on this continent, and now my power was restored. Or rather, reinforced.

In particular, Announcer-san’s part.

『Announcer-san, I think I can sense you better now.』

《This is due to the absorption of individual Bringer of Hope. Temporary name Announcer-san’s access domain has been temporarily expanded.》

『Temporarily? You mean it’ll go back to normal?』

《The current situation will put a heavy burden on temporary name Master. Access must be returned to Master immediately.》

『And by “Bringer of Hope”, you mean the Silver Lady?』

《Affirmative.》

Bringer of Hope…… The name that divine blacksmith Zechs gave her.

I have no clue what kind of guy Zechs was, but I can tell how much he wanted to defeat the antidemons. He went through all that effort to forge Overgrowth, then created the Silver Lady to manage it.

『Hey, are you sure you’re okay with this? You really want to leave your power with someone like me……?』

「Yes. I wish to fulfill my creator’s wish, as well as leave proof of my existence. I have determined this was the best way to do so.」

《Synchronizing all absorbed data, then integrating.》

『Whoa!』

The faint presence of that power became extremely clear. I could feel it taking a solid shape within me.

『My control over mana…… got better?』

《Temporary name Master’s skill [Sorcerer] has evolved into [Arch-Sorcerer].》

This is amazing! I can move mana so freely! Supreme-tier spells or skills will all work perfectly!

The Silver Lady smiled as if she could sense my joy. It’s hard to believe such a beautiful smile came from a robotic golem.

「I am honored to… be of service. Did I… manage to bring you hope in the end……?」

『!』

The Bringer of Hope’s body glowed even brighter than before, as it rapidly dissolved into light.

『Of course! This power is the best hope we could have asked for!』

「Fufu. Thank you very much……」

Leaving behind those last words, the Bringer of Hope disappeared into my body. She’s no longer with us, but I could still feel her power. The power of hope, just like her name suggested.

『Thank you too.』

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