More than a dozen warships flew in formation, projecting their imposing presence across the sky.
On the bridge of one of them—the flagship Rodalan.
General Christoph observed the Sixfold Annihilation Emperor with his sharp gaze.
A vast area spanning a hundred kilometers in diameter was covered by the iridescent membrane of the Linked Singularity Barrier.
Inside it, the most devastating force conceivable in this world should have been raging.
Gigaton-class thermonuclear bombs—weapons of annihilation capable of creating miniature suns on the earth's surface.
Six of them, detonating simultaneously in a precise arrangement.
The thermal radiation and shockwaves would all be reflected by the barrier, driven inward, then rebounded—producing destructive force beyond measurement.
"Not a single survivor—"
Christoph muttered involuntarily.
The mission entrusted to him by the new Emperor Fudra was the annihilation of the Resistance.
Gigil had successfully lured them into concentrating the bulk of their surviving forces in one place.
Warned that their security was stretched thin, the poor prey had walked right into a killing ground.
First operation: complete. Now transitioning to the second operation.
They would raid the Resistance's remaining hideout and capture them as experimental subjects.
"Indeed. To witness the practical application of that superweapon firsthand—what a delight for a scientist."
The head scientist, practically bouncing like a child, followed Christoph with glee.
In theory, this was generating the greatest amount of energy possible on the surface of this planet. But it was completely contained by the iridescent membrane.
This crystallization of human intellect.
The scientists' fascination converged on the resilience of the Linked Singularity Barrier.
During the previous great war, it had been the invincible shield that completely protected the cities.
It had performed exactly as expected this time as well.
But the truly remarkable aspect was something else entirely.
Rather than consuming electricity to maintain the barrier like the city-based versions, this system converted heat directly into energy.
The astronomical thermal output generated by the super-heavy nuclear bombs had been brilliantly converted into power for the Linked Singularity Barrier—the theory and the practice behind it.
It was the prototype of a Stellar Engine, said to be possessed only by the Four Armored Machine Generals, capable of completely controlling thermonuclear reactions.
The Four Armored Machine Generals' high-output fusion reactors housed the completed version of this Stellar Engine. Only three existed in the world—a rare and complete version.
With Almusbein gone, it had become an inviolable system.
No one alive understood how it worked.
That was why the scientists could barely contain their excitement at witnessing the legacy of the genius scientist Almusbein.
Christoph nodded without particular emotion, about to issue his next command.
But at that moment, his eyes caught a distortion in space.
A hairline fracture had run through the supposedly flawless Linked Singularity Barrier, and energy leaking through a minuscule gap in its wake had begun to affect the surrounding area.
Christoph detected it instantly—
"All ships, deploy impact barriers!! And descend—immediately!!"
He shouted the order.
The nearest point was at least twenty kilometers from the detonation site of the Sixfold Annihilation Emperor. But if the Linked Singularity Barrier were to fail—even by the slimmest chance—the super-compressed destructive force within would turn the surrounding area into scorched earth faster than sound.
Christoph chose to follow his own judgment and evacuate swiftly to avoid danger.
The elite soldiers under his command, forged through rigorous training, obeyed without a moment's hesitation or doubt.
It was the scientists who were stunned.
"Lord Christoph, what on earth—?"
The chief science officer asked, his enthusiasm deflated and his tone tinged with displeasure.
But before Christoph could answer—a blaring alarm sounded, and a shockwave rippled through the barrier outside the ships. Had all ships not performed an emergency landing, there could well have been casualties.
Then followed a thunderous roar that seemed to press down upon the heavens.
It was so powerful it became a vibration that could be felt even from within the soundproofed ship interiors.
"Wh-what happened!?"
"Don't tell me the Linked Singularity Barrier couldn't withstand the combined energy of six nuclear bombs?"
"Is a direct gigaton-class hit the limit...?"
"No, this is a system that can't even be maintained, isn't it? There might have been a malfunction."
The scientists weren't fools either.
They quickly grasped the situation and began voicing their analyses in turn.
But some among them harbored doubts.
"Still, something doesn't add up. Most of the thermal energy should still have been unspent. Given the pressure differential between the compressed interior and the exterior, this level of impact seems insufficient."
"Hmm. Also, look at the monitors. No fireball has been confirmed. An explosion occurred, but it was far smaller than expected, wasn't it?"
"Could a chain reaction have failed, leaving the fusion incomplete?"
"No, that can't be right. Look at the concentration of reactive material in the air—there's no abnormal value."
"Indeed. The explosion occurred normally. But we should consider that the majority of its energy somehow vanished."
The scientists glared at the bridge's observation systems, trading opinions back and forth.
Christoph glanced at them and spoke in a grave tone.
"The Zenith Tower of the Southern City has been destroyed."
"What!?"
"What could have caused that?"
"It appears that a section of the Linked Singularity Barrier failed first, and energy burst through from that point. It then happened to pierce straight through the Zenith Tower."
Christoph explained with an expression of bitter frustration.
"That's absurd—!?"
"Such a coincidence..."
"No! His Majesty is currently conducting an analysis of Michelle's body structure in that very location!"
In response to the chief science officer's outcry, Christoph nodded.
"Yes. Fortunately, Alvin is there as well in case Michelle goes berserk, but I'm worried about His Majesty. I'll return at once. You are to continue south and confirm whether any Resistance survivors remain."
"Aye-aye, understood!"
"General, I really don't think there are any survivors."
Christoph agreed.
No small Resistance force could possibly have survived the devastating power that even the Linked Singularity Barrier couldn't withstand.
But assumptions were dangerous.
Christoph decided to issue one final warning.
"Hmm. But don't let your guard down. Once annihilation is confirmed, proceed with the second operation as planned. Don't screw this up?"
"Aye aye!!"
Satisfied with their response, Christoph nodded and departed the warship, taking flight.
His destination: the Southern City.
Within the span of a single blink, he crossed the less-than-hundred-kilometer distance in a flash of flight.
◆◆◆
"Well then, the time has finally come for my lifelong dream to be realized."
"Yes, Lord Fudra."
Joy surging within him.
Suppressing it, Fudra reached out and touched Michelle's chest.
Searching for the crystallization of intellect hidden within.
Fudra had usurped Emperor Almusbein, seizing supreme power in his own hands.
And now, his heart racing, he was about to unlock the secret of the Infinite Engine—a dream he had chased for years.
The Infinite Engine—a dream system created by the genius scientist Almusbein.
Using a fundamentally different theory from nuclear power, it would produce energy endlessly in a perpetual cycle.
The dream of humanity—all energy problems would be solved.
"Your father, Senior Almus, was too kind. He feared the sacrifices and obstructed the progress of science. With his brilliant mind from his younger years, success would have been guaranteed. But he feared the consequences and abandoned the completion of the Infinite Engine. What a waste. As his junior, I was truly disappointed."
Fudra continued to talk aloud to no one in particular, his words flowing freely.
Michelle, unaware of the transformation of his adjutant Gigil, had entered post-combat maintenance mode.
During the process, her brain functions had been switched to a protected state, inducing a sleep from which she could not wake on her own.
All that remained was to examine the Infinite Engine hidden within her body—exactly as Fudra had planned.
Almusbein had personally modified four individuals, bestowing upon them the highest combat capabilities—cybernetically enhanced humans known as the Four Armored Machine Generals.
Three of them had been equipped with the Stellar Engine, the perfected form of fusion power.
In the truest sense, beings who harbored miniature stars within their bodies.
Each one was a transcendent existence capable of powering an entire city single-handedly.
But the Infinite Engine was on an entirely different level.
A single unit could power the entire planet's energy needs.
Fudra had dreamed of its completion, supporting Almusbein with every fiber of his being.
Yet, just as it was within reach of completion, Almusbein made the decision to permanently abandon the research.
Fudra couldn't understand.
If this system were completed, a world where all of humanity could live in happiness would become reality. Thinking that, how could he possibly give up?
"Senior, why!?!"
"Because it's too dangerous. This is a power beyond humanity's control. If something goes wrong, it could bring about the collapse of this very universe..."
He couldn't accept it, but Almusbein's resolve was unshakable. Fudra had no choice but to outwardly agree.
But all of that was now over.
The biological integrated circuits of the bio-modified humans he himself had developed could be expected to surpass quantum computing power.
With that computing ability and Fudra's own intellect, they could exceed genius.
They should be able to perfectly analyze the Infinite Engine and guide it to completion.
"Senior... I'll complete the dream we spoke of back then with my own hands."
Fudra murmured and set to work.
To divert the eyes of the Science Council's elders, he had even resorted to using the Sixfold Annihilation Emperor.
A weapon that couldn't be used might as well not exist.
He had put it to productive use for data collection purposes.
Besides, once the Infinite Engine was completed, the Stellar Engine would become nothing but a relic of the past.
Fudra had reasoned thus and given his approval without hesitation.
Now he could focus on his work without interference, he thought.
His hand still resting on Michelle's chest, he sank it deeper, connecting to her neural network.
He interfered with the computing elements linked to her brain, and touched the hidden door.
Beyond it lay the light of hope.
Believing so, Fudra forced the door open...
Perhaps, if the timing had been slightly different, this outcome could have been avoided.
If conditions had been ideal, there might have been some way to handle it.
But as it was, the worst possible situation arose at the worst possible timing.
Like a devil smiling, it happened the very instant the door opened.
"—Hmm!?"
The flow was instantaneous.
Fudra's crisis instincts detected an ultra-high-density energy response that made his very fear receptors tremble.
At the same time, Alvin—who had been held in reserve as a precaution—moved.
Shielding the capsule containing Fudra and Michelle, he deployed his Linked Singularity Barrier.
The very next moment, the Zenith Tower—believed to be the safest location in the entire Southern City—was instantly vaporized.
Fudra and the others barely escaped death by the narrowest of margins.
But almost immediately, Fudra's face went pale.
"This is bad! The Infinite Engine has activated—"
Even while shut down, its residual energy alone had already surpassed that of a Stellar Engine.
And now, the Infinite Engine had begun operating in a barren, empty lot outside the city, where there was no equipment whatsoever.
Fudra frantically attempted to shut down the engine. But it was impossible.
The sheer volume of energy being generated was so immense that merely controlling it to prevent a runaway was a full-time battle.
"I never imagined it would be like this—!?!"
Throwing all caution to the wind, Fudra redirected every cell of his own cybernetically enhanced body into computational control, and yet it was still barely enough to hold back the torrential energy flow—
"Help me, Alvin!"
"As you command."
Alvin used his Linked Singularity Barrier to neutralize the leaking energy.
But even that was only a temporary measure.
(—So this is it. This is the true form of the Infinite Engine!? Senior... I knew it—Senior Almus really was a genius!!)
Shock, admiration, and indescribable joy.
Fudra's instincts as a scientist were producing these emotions at the most inappropriate moment.
And simultaneously, terror.
—If something goes wrong, it could bring about the collapse of this very universe—
The genius's words echoed in his mind.
They were the truth.
(Truly, this is something beyond humanity's grasp. And Senior managed to—)
Even now, a surge of reverence for Almusbein welled up within him.
But that genius was no longer here.
Fudra understood that he had been arrogant.
And he was filled with regret.
That he had been the one to open the Gate to Ruin...
◆◆◆
Christoph arrived at the scene and was struck speechless.
The upper structure supported by the orbital elevator—the Zenith Tower—had been blown apart and vanished entirely.
The elevator section, stripped of its support, had plummeted to the ground under gravity's pull, causing devastating damage to the urban area below.
The core section protected by the city's defense mechanisms remained intact, so there appeared to be no civilian casualties. But the various facilities concentrated in the upper structure had been utterly decimated.
It was a scene reminiscent of the immediate aftermath of the great war.
"His Majesty—"
Christoph scanned for life signs and detected Fudra's identification signal on the ground some distance away. He appeared to be unharmed, and Christoph felt a measure of relief.
But it didn't last.
Christoph was about to head toward Fudra when he involuntarily stopped in his tracks. His sensors were reporting the approach of a massive energy signature unlike anything he had ever seen.
As if possessed of will, the energy was heading straight for Christoph.
Enemy, his instincts told him.
And then—
"Kuhaaahaha! I have arrived!!"
"I'm here too!!"
Christoph had encountered the unimaginable—utter irrationality.
"Where did these mice creep in from?"
Christoph asked, his anger seeping through.
But Veldora didn't care.
"Oh? You seem to have a fair amount of power yourself. But you're still no match for me. If you don't get in my way, I'll let you leave. So why don't you scram?"
Veldora declared with supreme arrogance.
Even Christoph couldn't hide his displeasure at this.
Despite having become a cybernetically enhanced human, he still possessed his memories and emotions as Christoph.
"I see. So you're one of those fools too ignorant to know his own place. I suppose it's no surprise the Resistance doesn't know who I am. As a parting gift for the afterlife, I'll tell you my name. I am Christoph. Even a lowly rat like you must have heard that name before?"
No one who heard that name could remain unshaken. That was what Christoph believed, and so he introduced himself.
Right now, what mattered was Fudra's safety, and wasting time on pointless battles was a luxury he couldn't afford.
He could dispose of the rats whenever he pleased.
Christoph had intended to let the annoying rodents flee if they chose to run. But that notion was nothing short of hilarious to Veldora and
"Ramiris, he's actually saying stuff like that. Christoph, was it? Does that ring a bell?"
"Hmm, sort of? I mean, there's no way I'd know the famous people in this world."
"Right. Well, it doesn't matter either way. Christoph, or whatever—my name is Veldora! Great '
Seeing that Christoph had no intention of backing down, Veldora decided to have a bit of fun.
And Christoph, too, braced himself to teach this fool a lesson in reality.
"Very well. Then die!"
*Crack!* The air exploded.
Christoph compressed the atmosphere and fired it at supersonic speed.
A compressed air bomb—one of the ultimate techniques of Mech-Arts.
The air projectile struck Veldora dead in the face.
Under normal circumstances, the head would have blown clean off.
Under normal circumstances.
But Veldora was not normal.
That level of attack was neither here nor there for him.
"Oh come on, attacks like that are meaningless against me. Come at me for real. Then at least we'll have something resembling a decent fight."
Arms crossed and chest puffed out, Veldora spoke as though instructing a student.
Ramiris chimed in as well.
"You might as well give up, you know? Someone at your level isn't even worth talking about."
Ramiris was supremely confident against anyone she thought she could beat.
She had zero interest in Christoph's pride as a warrior.
She had no malice in it either—she was naturally just provoking him.
Christoph was inflamed with fury.
"You cheeky little rats. Veldora and Ramiris, was it...? I recall those names from Gigil's report. The Resistance's secret weapons who fought Michelle, I presume? My apologies, but Michelle must have been going easy on you, which gave you the wrong idea. You've been strutting around like big fish in a small pond, and I'm afraid it's time I showed you reality."
As a warrior. As a hero.
Christoph recognized Veldora as a worthy enemy.
As an enemy worthy of his full power.
"Kuhahahaha! You think you can beat me? How amusing!"
"That guy doesn't seem like he's going to give up. Go get him, Master!"
Veldora laughed and engaged, while Ramiris was completely content to leave the fighting to someone else.
Since she already knew she wouldn't lose, Ramiris held back nothing.
And Veldora needed no prompting from Ramiris either.
"Heh heh heh. Reminds me of my training days with
To the astonished Christoph, Veldora maintained his composed stance and spoke.
"Enjoy your arrogance in hell!!"
With those words, Christoph transformed himself into a bolt of light and charged.
At the immobile, supremely confident Veldora.
To shatter that arrogance.
The afterimage became intangible, distorting the enemy's visual perception.
By residual energy, thermal sensors were rendered useless.
Moving faster than sound, sonic measurement was equally futile.
The killing blow would be born from a strike of divine speed.
"Maximum Impact Fist!!"
A body forged through cybernetic modification—capable of self-regeneration and infinite adaptation—housed one of only three Stellar Engines in existence, and was wielded by a man who had reached the pinnacle of martial mastery.
That was General Christoph—the strongest of the Four Armored Machine Generals.
The fist that had never known defeat on the battlefield now plunged toward Veldora—
—And then.
All of its kinetic energy was reflected back through the fist.
The result:
Christoph's right arm was blown clean off at the shoulder.
"What—!?"
Christoph involuntarily stumbled back, putting distance between himself and Veldora.
From where he stood, the conversation between Ramiris and Veldora reached his ears.
"Just as I thought! Master, it's like we figured. This guy's energy level isn't that different from Zaza's or Karman's. It was that woman Michelle who was the real anomaly!"
"Indeed. Our 'Analytical Appraisal' couldn't penetrate her, but this one's energy flow is easy to read. We should definitely get Michelle's cooperation."
"Right, right. And when we do, we should install that engine in
"Huh? Where exactly are you planning to take Beretta?"
"Come on! Beretta would get a crazy power boost from that!"
Facing an enemy like Christoph, neither of them showed the slightest tension in their conversation.
(You've got to be kidding me—you're ignoring me completely!?)
A seething fury that burned through his brain and surged from the very depths of his soul.
Since being reborn as a cybernetically enhanced human, his emotions had never once fluctuated this violently.
In any situation, he remained composed, existing solely to act as Fudra's pawn—that was what Christoph had always vaguely believed about himself.
But it seemed that belief was wrong.
(Am I—was the warrior inside me not dead after all...?)
He had never felt joy at being celebrated as a hero.
His only wish had been to live up to the expectations of his dear friend Almusbein.
Now he remembered.
Christoph looked at his severed arm, then returned his gaze to Veldora.
His heart had settled into absolute calm, without a single ripple.
"What did you do? My fist was certainly on target. I had coated it with a Linked Singularity Barrier."
He asked slowly, while attempting to regenerate his right arm.
As a newly enhanced cybernetically modified human, his body answered his will and demonstrated its full potential.
In the blink of an eye, the right arm was regenerated.
"Also... it seems I underestimated you. I apologize for the discourtesy. I had convinced myself that nothing—no matter its composition—could withstand my strikes. It wasn't reliant on machine performance alone, was it? Some kind of technique?"
Swallowing his anger and acknowledging Veldora as a superior being, Christoph analyzed the situation.
If a fist capable of shattering any material had been deflected—then the answer was that Veldora had mastered a technique beyond Mech-Arts.
To confirm this, he probed for hints by asking what Veldora had done, all while continuing the conversation.
The greatest offense was built upon the ultimate defense.
True to fundamentals, Christoph had attacked at full power. And yet, the result had been the loss of his own arm.
His astonishment was entirely understandable.
But Christoph would not concede defeat.
While maintaining the conversation, he probed for openings, running his Stellar Engine at maximum output.
"Oh, want to know? It's called 'using softness to overcome hardness.' In simple terms, it's the pinnacle of hand-to-hand combat."
Veldora answered smugly.
Except his answer was complete nonsense.
The reason Christoph's attack had been ineffective was simply that Veldora was a spiritual lifeform.
It was purely a matter of energy density—the shockwave Christoph had launched was simply repelled by the disparity.
Veldora hadn't even performed a defense.
"Using softness to overcome hardness"—what a joke.
In this case, the more accurate saying would have been "hardness is useless against hardness."
This world's strongest man, Christoph.
His defeat came from facing a visitor from another world—one who operated beyond the bounds of common sense.
From the very beginning, Christoph could never have won against this opponent.
But Christoph refused to accept reality.
Common sense blinded him, preventing him from even entertaining the possibility.
That Veldora hadn't even defended himself at all...
In this world, Christoph had reigned supreme as the strongest existence.
That was precisely why he couldn't accept that something existed beyond his comprehension.
No.
Perhaps his instincts had understood. But he couldn't bring himself to acknowledge it.
Because Christoph was, after all, the magnum opus of the genius Almusbein.
And so Christoph judged purely by his own common sense.
And charged at Veldora once more.
"Spouting nonsense! Don't think for a second that some trick like that beat me!"
Christoph staked his reputation as the strongest and shouted.
But his words never reached their mark.
"Dragon—Puuuunch!!"
Holding back just a little on the power, Veldora's fist drove through Christoph.
Before that fist, even the strongest Christoph's Linked Singularity Barrier meant nothing.
It was shattered in an instant, and the impact sent Christoph's entire body into paralysis.
His surging energy, robbed of its outlet, dissipated into mist.
"Th-this can't be..."
Christoph, who had refused to accept defeat and intended to fight to the very end as a warrior.
But his timing couldn't have been worse.
Veldora had already lost interest in Christoph.
Because at that very moment, Fudra had opened the door.
—The Gate to Ruin.
Veldora had sensed it on instinct.
Michelle's energy had been increasing at an alarming rate, and something told him this was bad.
And so he realized—this was no time for play. An emergency.
"Sorry about that. Something seems to have gone wrong with Michelle, so I don't have time to mess around with you. I was hoping to have a bit more fun, but let's leave it for next time. Until then, polish your skills!"
With a booming laugh, Veldora departed with Ramiris.
Christoph was left behind—
"K-kukuku... unbelievable. He really wasn't interested in me at all... And yet, what extraordinary strength... Was that even human? No, more than that... I..."
Wandering in thought, confused, searching for answers.
Bewildered by his own state of mind, Christoph couldn't bring himself to stand.
Veldora's devastating blow had shattered the absolute conditioning Fudra had implanted in his instincts.
It would take a little more time for Christoph to realize that...
◆◆◆
Veldora arrived at Michelle's location in a single bound.
Given the emergency, he held nothing back.
He executed a Flash Step without hesitation.
What greeted him there was a sight he wished he'd never seen.
"...Master. That's... really bad, isn't it?"
"Don't speak of it, Ramiris. Even I can't do anything about this. Let's just pretend we never saw it and get out of here quickly."
"But if we do that, what about Zaza and Sharma and Rindou, the kids, and Karman? Everyone we met here? We'll be fine, but I don't want to abandon them!"
"Y-you're right... But this is beyond even my—"
"Even you can't handle it, Master?"
"I can't. Because—"
Because the scene that spread before them was nothing less than a harbinger of the world's collapse.
Alvin was desperately neutralizing the energy spilling from Michelle while Fudra, bloodshot eyes bulging, fought to control the surging output.
They were so consumed by their work that they hadn't even noticed Veldora and Ramiris's arrival.
Veldora took one look and understood what they were attempting.
Michelle's energy output, which he'd read as greater than Beretta's, was about to be released in full.
But what was even more troublesome was—
(It's this powerful, then... A power core even I couldn't read—but it operates on an entirely different principle from the others. This isn't a sun. It's what comes after a sun exhausts its life—a supernova—no, a gravity vortex? The energy output is enormous, and the problem is the speed at which it absorbs surrounding matter...)
—This is bad, Veldora thought.
Neutralizing the leaking energy wasn't impossible, but stopping the absorption force was the real challenge.
If he could fill the gravity vortex until it was satisfied, it would reach saturation and stabilize. But that would only work if there was just one.
In Veldora's eyes, he could see two gravity vortexes, both rapidly increasing in scale.
One absorbed matter, the other emitted it as pure energy.
It was, in essence, a being with a 'stomach' that could never be filled—a voracious King of
"—Just like Rimuru's power?"
"That's right."
Ramiris had reached the same conclusion, and Veldora nodded in agreement.
"What do we do? If this keeps up, everyone will..."
At Ramiris's murmur, Veldora had no immediate answer.
If he committed fully to neutralizing the energy, he could buy considerable time.
But other measures—such as isolation via barrier—couldn't contain energy of this magnitude.
Eventually, it would break through, and the world would meet its end.
The scale was simply too different.
It was manageable for now, but if left unchecked, it would consume even this universe.
"I have no choice... I'd rather not, but I'll have to suppress it with my own power."
"Are you sure you'll be okay, Master?"
"I have to be."
There was no option to simply leave.
Though he'd spoken of running away, if he'd truly intended to, he would have done so long ago.
The reason he hadn't was because Veldora, too, didn't wish for this world to be destroyed.
Veldora had grown fond of those struggling to survive in this harsh world.
The bratty Zaza. The stubborn Karman. The dead-serious Rindou. The unexpectedly resilient Sharma.
And the children who refused to despair no matter the circumstance.
Veldora would never abandon these lovable humans.
It was a bond formed by mere chance, but there had to be meaning in it.
Even a passing encounter was a bond spanning lifetimes—to Veldora, there was no difference between coincidence and destiny.
If he was going to do this, he would succeed.
Failure was something Veldora's pride would not tolerate.
And so, reluctantly, Veldora decided to use whatever tools were available.
"While I hold it down, if you can successfully neutralize it, the situation will stabilize. Listen up, humans. I'd much rather not, but I'm going to cooperate with you. Quickly perform a complete calibration and synchronize the scale of the double helix!!"
He extended his request for cooperation to the humans who appeared to have modified Michelle—Fudra and Alvin.
Asking humans for help was a profound humiliation for a "True Dragon."
If Veldora's sisters were present, they would have been seething with rage.
But Veldora was far more flexible in his thinking.
While rapidly releasing his Demon Aura toward Michelle, he barked orders at the stunned Fudra and Alvin.
"B-but. Michelle was deemed uncontrollable even by Senior Almus—"
"Silence! I'm assisting you—stop yapping and get to work!! Listen well, you're all the same species, aren't you? There may be gaps in ability, but there's no impossibly high wall between you!"
Typical Veldora—making outrageous demands.
But even though this was nothing short of absurd, it stirred something in one of them.
"Let's do this, Lord Fudra. If we give up now, everything we've done will have been for nothing. Let's save Michelle—save my sister."
"Alvin... you..."
"There's no time to hesitate. If we can't stop this rampage, your ambitions are doomed regardless."
"You—you regained consciousness!?"
"Rather than 'regained,' I was awake from the beginning. It was an act, my lord—an act. Just in case something like this happened, I prepared a dummy brain unit. Though I suppose you never actually intended to kill us, Lord Fudra? That bio-modified body of yours didn't destroy my false brain."
"Tch. You played me. You're Almusbein's son, alright—sharper than I gave you credit for..."
"You're too kind."
"Why did you pretend to follow my orders?"
"Because I agreed with your vision, Lord Fudra. Of course, if I'd known the Infinite Engine was this dangerous, I would have opposed it from the start."
"I don't know what you're thinking, but I was pursuing my own ambitions—"
"By now, Gigil and General Christoph should have regained consciousness as well, shouldn't they? From the very beginning, that was the plan, wasn't it? You volunteered to play the villain and be defeated by us—isn't that right?"
"Don't be absurd—"
"I thought you went a bit overboard eliminating those who might learn the behind-the-scenes secrets that could become obstacles later. But never mind that now. Let's save Michelle!"
Conversation over—Alvin moved to interface with Michelle's Infinite Engine.
Fudra, though he considered it distasteful, didn't make the mistake of misplacing his priorities.
If they failed to control the Infinite Engine here, everything truly would be lost.
There was no time for arguments.
"Indeed. Proceed quickly. Otherwise, even I may run out of Magicules."
Veldora spoke with unusual seriousness.
In truth, neutralizing the leaked energy was straightforward enough—the other half, the one that kept absorbing, was the real problem.
If energy was carelessly fed into it, the absolute value would increase, and the output would grow in kind.
And in tandem, the absorption force would intensify as well.
What made it truly troublesome was that the energy being emitted had no discernible pattern.
"Master, calculating this is fundamentally impossible!"
Ramiris, who had been assisting Veldora, cried out in exasperation.
She was right—the energy emitted from Michelle was constantly changing state.
As though drawing different types of energy from entirely separate dimensions...
"Precisely. Otherwise, I'd have long since linked the circuits and created a recycling loop!"
Veldora answered Ramiris with barely restrained frustration.
Even through his Ultimate Skill, "King of Chaos"—using "Truth Analysis"—the constantly shifting energy made it impossible to read its underlying law. The result was that the only approach left was the passive strategy of reading the leaked energy and rendering it harmless.
On top of that, he had to use his own Demon Aura to suppress the other half—the absorption force. This operation was extremely demanding, with no end in sight.
And time ticked on.
There was no end in sight.
Like the digits of pi stretching to infinity. Like primes extending without limit.
Something that seemed to exist, yet didn't.
Something that didn't seem to exist, yet clearly did.
Governed by invisible laws beyond the reach of human understanding.
Even with computing power surpassing a quantum computer, no answer could be found for this proposition.
Told to solve it right here, right now—the only honest answer was that it was impossible.
But no one was willing to give up.
Alvin organized information while issuing directives to the city's panicked leadership, whose Zenith Tower had been obliterated.
Fudra spun his brilliant mind at full capacity, attempting to decode the organized data and uncover whatever laws might or might not exist.
Veldora and Ramiris struggled desperately to keep Michelle's condition stable, so as not to affect the others.
But gradually, the balance tipped. The dark sphere began to grow.
It was clear to everyone that they were nearing their limit.
And once more, the calibration failed. The energy balance lurched violently.
Veldora scrambled to adjust, preventing a detonation—but the sphere had already grown to a size visible to the naked eye.
Calling it a micro black hole was no longer accurate. If it was released in its current state, even Veldora would find it difficult to contain.
"This is bad... At this point, even I might be in trouble..."
Veldora murmured involuntarily.
But no one complained.
Because even Fudra and the others had already noticed Veldora's abnormal condition.
He was forcibly controlling the Infinite Engine that had already detonated several times.
Without Veldora, this world would have been destroyed long ago.
Everyone was doing their utmost, but time was simply too short.
Just as resignation and despair were about to engulf them—
*Splang!!*
A crisp, bright sound rang from the top of Veldora's head.
And then—
"Hey, hey—what the hell is going on here!? You—how did you manage to almost destroy an entire world in the little over a week I was away!!"
A voice, distinctly irate, echoed through the space.
Floating there was a mysterious slime wielding a paper fan.
No—their true identity was—
Rimuru, the great Demon Lord, had come to retrieve Veldora and the others.