Chapter Four / 07 : 35 / Progressor

The light had surged up from the bottom of Tokyo and pierced right through the Pillar of Heaven. Looking up at that sight from the rooftop of the ruling party’s headquarter building, Karasawa stroked his chin at a loss.

“—Oh man, I was too late huh...”

He was just about to contact Marie’s group to tell them of what he had learned from the transmission log that he had pulled from the ruling party’s transmission station.

“What should I do... The pay I’m getting for consultancy won’t be enough to cover this...” Even though it’s my policy not to do any more than what I’m paid for— Karasawa thought with a bitter expression on his face, he was still clutching the phone in his hand.

Reclining against the rooftop fence, Karasawa let out a deep sigh. —I should have noticed. Dr. Marie had reported to me that the enemy had performed a successful override of the Master Confirmation of one of the Initial-Y Series before.

So why didn’t they, being researchers of electromagnetic technology, use the technology present on that device?

Not to mention, with what the logs I just read seem to imply— “It’s way too risky for me to hold onto this information alone...”

I did a good job decrypting the correspondence between Shiga’s ex-military and their accomplice in just a little over an hour if I may say so myself, but... now that it’s come to this, I wish I hadn’t found out.

“Whether or not the coup d’état succeeds, the goal of the one behind it all remains the same—the purge of the capital. Really, what are we going to do about this...” Karasawa muttered to no one in particular as cold sweat broke out across his face.

Just then.

“—”

Karasawa silently pushed himself off the fence. He wasn’t surprised. Back when he had gotten ahold of this information, he had already known that sooner or later it would come to this.

Before it did, I had wanted to give Dr. Marie—my savior—this information, but... “So you’re already here huh... Geez, you guys may be scoundrels but I have to admit you’re capable,” Karasawa sighed.

Raising his head, he saw the person—no, the thing—that had appeared by the entrance to the rooftop. Karasawa couldn’t clearly make out its figure, but by paying close attention, he was just barely able to make out a shimmering existence by the entrance.

—It was optical camouflage. “A portable model...? Oy oy, not even the Five Great Corporations have successfully developed something like that, you know? As a consultant, I’m certain of this.” Karasawa smiled as he tilted his head. “Say,” he began cheerfully, “if you don’t mind, could I ask you something? —How much do you make?”

The shimmer didn’t answer.

—Yeah, no surprise there. Karasawa smiled bitterly. These guys aren’t the type to waste time saying stuff like, “Any last words?” or “What have you found out?” or “Say your prayers...”

Because if the shimmer belonged to the group that Karasawa had gotten information on, the presence would already know that Karasawa had nothing left to say. The group should already be well aware of what information Karasawa had gotten ahold of, and just as well, Karasawa was an atheist.

In response to the murderous aura closing in on him, Karasawa undid his collar button at his own pace. Placing his right foot one step back, he took a stance.

“Alright. Let’s both do our jobs. Hey, did you know? In this country, uncompensated overtime is just the way of life. Long live the labor force,” Karasawa sardonically muttered as he sized up the enemy before him.

My enemy is most likely a cyborg with cutting-edge equipment. The brain probably belongs to a professional hitman as well. Meanwhile, I’m just a mere consultant whose only arms are a single pistol and some portable clocksmithing tools... How many seconds can I survive? I wonder. With a mental sigh, Karasawa clocked in overtime on a matter of life and death.

●

—What just happened? Marie struggled to breathe as she stared dumbfoundedly at the sight before her.

—Everything’s gone. Everything. That blast of light broadsided us from nowhere, it swallowed everything... There’s nothing left.

The central mechanism composed of incredibly sturdy material had melted like glass candy touched by fire. A wide, gaping round hole had been bored into the floor, the walls, the ceiling...

The light had pierced through the outer shell of the tower, melting the floor, and vaporizing the mechanisms in its way, until it passed back out again through the opposite end.

The holes it made all had ugly, jagged edges to them due to the brief liquidation of the surface materials. Marie sank to the floor right next to one such gap. If she had been just a second slower in evading the light, she would have been vaporized.

As she looked around with trembling eyes, she found Houko right next to her. The enormous Black Tortoise that Halter was operating was resting alongside the tower wall, Vermouth was on the ground next to its feet. She also confirmed that Naoto, RyuZU, and AnchoR, who had been in a safe place to begin with, were fine as well.

She didn’t see any service automata though. They had all been working where the light shot through, so it appeared that they had been unable to escape. —But at the very least, it looks like there weren’t any human lives lost to the light just now.

Now that she knew that, a question popped into Marie’s head. With a trembling voice, she asked that question aloud: “—What, was that... What the hell was that supposed to be?!” Her yell quickly vanished through the gaping holes in the walls.

No one answered her— No wait. “...We were shot at,” Naoto, the lone person to raise his voice, succinctly answered.

“What’d you say?” —I don’t understand. Shot at? By whom, with what? Why?

Seeing Marie befuddled in her thoughts, Naoto repeated—this time yelling, “We were shot at by their main cannon! The same piece of shit gigantic cannon that tore a giant hole right through the middle of Akihabara! Are you deaf?!”

She could hear him. At the very least, she understood the words Naoto was saying. However— “Why?! Why would they shoot at us?! Their goal is a coup d’état isn’t it?! If Houko was— If the members of the Imperial Family were hurt, who would be there to confer to them the right to rule Japan?! No, before that—!”

Jumping back to her feet, Marie paced back and forth waving her hands as she shouted in disbelief. “If they destroy the Pillar of Heaven, Tokyo would collapse and take them along for the ride you know?! Hell, all of Japan might collapse!”

That wouldn’t be a coup d’état. It’d be nothing but terrorism—and the worst kind at that, suicide bombing. This is different from what we thought. Things aren’t adding up. I don’t understand why they took such an action—

But it seemed that even Naoto couldn’t answer her question this time, the only sound that could be heard was the wind gushing in from outside— Just then.

“—It is indeed possible to dampen the power of a maser shot by means of randomizing the directionality of the microwaves through the use of the refracting properties of steam...

An apt response to our assault I must say, cursedly so, in fact. But how could you tell that our main cannon is a maser cannon? —I’d very much like to hear your answer.”

A man’s voice resounded throughout the floor. His voice sounded composed, almost mechanical even.

—Where is his voice coming from? Marie wondered. It isn’t from the speakers, nor is the sound coming directly at us. As Marie looked around trying to find the answer, she quickly realized that the entire floor was vibrating to transmit his voice.

And so, while no one could respond, the voice continued, “I’m sure you survived that shot anyway, yes? ‘Y’ —or rather should I say, Mr. Naoto Miura.”

Besides RyuZU and of course Naoto himself, everyone else’s gaze turned towards Naoto. Looking as if they recognized the voice that was speaking, the two of them were the only ones looking down through the gaping hole in the floor.

Far off down below—they could see the pea-sized silhouette of the enormous weapon in Akihabara Grid. “—This voice... Don’t tell me it’s the gramps from that time...?” Naoto muttered in a daze.

“Naoto! Explain what’s going on!! What the hell is a maser canon?! Who is this voice?!”

“How should I know?! The heck is a maser or whatever?!”

“—My, if it isn’t the old pile of bones that we happened upon while we were still stuck underground. I am indeed speaking to those squawking remains of a loser who fancied himself the wise hermit when he was really just a shut-in, yes? Well, to what do I owe the displeasure of having to listen to your grating voice once more?”

“...Oh, but of course... Since it’s you, you probably instinctively knew what you should do to protect yourself without really knowing why...

You see there was a device called a microwave oven a long time ago, this maser cannon works on the same principle as that device. Likewise, I am also projecting my voice to you by sending electromagnetic radiation to make the walls of the Pillar of Heaven vibrate. With that in mind, I’m afraid that this will be a rather one-sided conversation. Do forgive me.

...Now that I think about it, I haven’t introduced myself have I— My name is Gennai Hirayama. I’m the leader of this coup d’état. Setting that aside, I am sure that you are all wondering why I fired upon the Pillar of Heaven.”

“Gennai... Hirayama...” As Marie engraved that name into her memory, she nodded. Yeah, you’re right. After all, should the Pillar of Heaven fall, the only thing that would await you is death.

“Well, I’ll keep it short. About the coup d’état... to be honest, it doesn’t matter to me. The subordinates that I’ve dealt with were certainly burning with righteous indignation though.”

—It doesn’t matter to him? No, before that, what does he mean by having “dealt with” his subordinates...?

The voice—Gennai—continued, “—We’ll prove the superiority of electromagnetic technology, that is, the fruits of our research to the narrow-minded world we live in. A world that won’t recognize any technology other than clockwork technology. And, in our just cause, we’ll rectify the federal government’s offense of throwing us away like trash. That, was more or less our proclaimed mission but...”

Gennai paused for a moment.

“I was certain that we would fail.”

“—”

“Or rather, the premise didn’t hold up from the very beginning. The world has long known the superiority of electromagnetic technology. Don’t tell me that you lot are naive enough to believe that there’s actually a country in the world that would dutifully uphold that shallow facade of a treaty and abandon such a capable tool.”

—That’s true, Marie thought. Even Japan, a country that is extremely timid on the international stage, was doing research on the realization of an electromagnetic weapon. If one looked for it, there would surely be at least one or two secret research facilities in any country.

“As for the overthrowing of the federal government—the goal itself can be easily accomplished, but should our electromagnetic weapon become public knowledge, a world war would be what awaits.”

Indeed, there was no way that other countries would ignore such a clear threat to their national security. They would surely eliminate it by any means necessary. Even with their own respective electromagnetic weapons that they were concealing, should it come to that.

“Well, my subordinates seemed to have thought that with this weapon and its electromagnetic technologies, we’d be more than capable of holding our own against the rest of the world. Youth sure is a scary thing. My younger self retired in the underground precisely because, unlike them, I couldn’t dedicate myself to such an extent—but...”

Gennai paused before changing gears. “That’s when I realized that there was something far graver than the character of this nation or the lives that were stolen when Shiga was purged—far more arrogant, insolent... The identity of the one that twisted this world beyond hope!”

The voice that had been composed all this time harbored passion for the first time.

“—In conclusion, Naoto Miura— No, ‘Y.’”

Naoto raised his head. His thoughts were impenetrable as his gray eyes stared into space.

“You insolently, haughtily pulled off recreating our very universe. You rejected the path that humanity had carved itself and bent the world itself to fit your own view—and that’s exactly why I must test you once more.”

Marie had no clue what Gennai was referring to. However, she could sense wrath, hatred—and a hint of resignation in his voice.

“—Show me what you’ve got. If you can stop me, then you aren’t human after all. If you can’t, then repent for your arrogant sin in bending the world to your will as I pull you down into hell. I’ll teach you what us mediocrities who crawl through the mud are capable of—you wretched monster.”

—Then, silence fell. With that, the voice had stopped speaking. Breaking through his comrades’ dumbfounded silence, Halter nimbly tilted the head of the Black Tortoise. “—So, Naoto. What kind of joke is this?”

Following that, Vermouth also spoke up. “Hey boy. Just what kind of crazy ass abuse did you hurl at that guy for him to flip out at you like that? Shit’s insane—mind teaching me for future reference?”

However, Naoto dumbfoundedly shook his head. “Huh, but I didn’t really say anything to him though...? I just gave some short, apt replies to the comments he made... right? I mean, did I say something strange to him, RyuZU?”

“Not at all. You simply told him a few exceedingly obvious things. Now then, what could he be angry about? ...Perhaps he is simply testy due to menopause?”

Unable to bear relenting in the face of the overwhelming situation at hand any longer, Marie shouted from the bottom of her lungs, “Don’t fuck with me! —Like I’ll let Asia collapse just because some old bastard has menopause—!! And Naoto!!”

Marie sharply pointed her finger at the boy in question. “Who was the loudmouth that called me a walking landmine again?! We’re in this situation because you walked through a minefield and somehow managed to step on every freaking one! Did you ever think that maybe you’re the problem?! You’re a magnet for trouble you walking time bomb—!!!”

“I mean, you can say that, but asking someone to correctly identify and avoid the sore spots of a loony old man like that is way too much to ask, you know?! You heard the man! He’s obviously pretty far gone!!”

“...Father? ...What was that grandpa saying...?”

“Ahh, you don’t have to make sense of his ramblings AnchoR~ I don’t think anyone gets it really,” Naoto replied with a hollow voice.

Marie inadvertently felt a chill run down her spine. —Is it just my imagination? “A-At any rate, I’m gonna organize what we know about the situation!” Shaking her head, Marie dispersed the growing dread gnawing at the back of her mind. “Naoto, how long will it take that giant thing to shoot its main cannon again?”

“...I don’t know. But, it probably shot at us... with about eighty-percent charge just now. With that in mind, it should be at about... thirty-percent charge right now, I think?

I should warn you, I don’t know its precise structure, so this is just my guess. It might not be able to fire until it recovers at least eighty-percent charge, or maybe it can fire again at fifty-percent charge, I really don’t know! There’s no basis for me to judge!”

“...Very well. Let’s assume the worst-case scenario—how long would it take them to recover fifty percent charge?”

Naoto held his head. “...I’m telling you, I don’t know. It’s already weird that they were able to get to eighty-percent charge so quickly to begin with. I told you in Ueno, didn’t I?! That it’d take sixty-six hours! It’s only been roughly forty-six since then—there should have been nearly a full day left! That prediction turned out to be totally off the ma—”

Marie seized Naoto by his collar. Her blazing emerald eyes glaring into his gray ones. “We can only rely on your ears and intuition right now! Answer me intuitively! What’s the shortest amount of time it would take for them to fire a second shot?!”

“———Seventy-two minutes. There’s no way—that it can be any quicker than that...”

If this guy says so, then it must be true. We don’t have any other frames of reference aside from his senses right now. So we’ll just have to base our estimation on the figure he gave—we’ve got seventy-two minutes. That’s it. That settles it.

—And that is by no means a long time. In this situation, seventy minutes may as well be seventy seconds. Let’s take a deep breath and deal with the problems one by one— Marie looked up at Halter—the Black Tortoise’s head—and asked, “—Halter, how much time do you think we have left before the military stops twiddling their thumbs and sets out to regain control of the palace?”

“...If you want me to be frank, they’ll probably be storming in any second now. After all, there’s no longer any guarantee of the princess’s safety.”

“Argh god! Everyone just wants to stand in my way!” Marie furiously stamped her feet and scratched her head.

However, Houko took a step forward. “Actually, it should take the military at least forty minutes to get here... No matter what miracles they pull off it should take at least that long.”

“Eh—?” Everyone chorused as they focused their eyes on Houko.

Houko faced everyone’s gazes head-on as she continued, “—The enormous weapon quickly annihilated Tokyo’s security force upon making its appearance. That caused the government to break up, which in turn caused infighting to break out in a total of eight locations in Tokyo.

The first to the fourth army corps commenced an emergency mobilization to subjugate the rebellion upon the request of the metropolitan police and are currently engaged in battle. The two battalions that made up the main force of the rebel army had besieged the palace, but they were eradicated by you all, yes?”

After a pause— “To put it plainly, the constituents that make up Tokyo’s military have either lost their fighting strength or are currently not under the normal chain of command.

“Assuming that the military used your recent broadcast as an opportunity to reunify itself, it would still need to reorganize its available forces, draft a strategic plan, decide on who should take the lead as supreme commander. They would also have to summon the reserve forces should reinforcements be necessary.

Even if there is an officer who has the capability, will, and popularity to swiftly handle all these things, considering how much time has passed up to now—it will take at least another forty minutes. That should be the absolute lower limit.”

“—Though.” Houko smiled tenderly. “I think if there were such a convenient person, then the situation would not have come to this in the first place.”

Marie stared at Houko in astonishment. “—You don’t have any political power, right?”

“Naturally. I am a woman in the imperial family after all.” Houko beamed.

—What a waste, if she were born in an earlier era, or simply into any other family in Japan, she might have seriously ended up leading this nation one day.

Dispelling the tangent that had surfaced in her mind, Marie said, “—Very well. Let’s use that figure as a guideline then. So, we don’t have to worry about the military storming inside here for at least another forty minutes. Meanwhile, setting up a barricade and having Halter and Vermouth defend it should be enough to hold the imperial guard at bay. In that case, what’s left is...”

—The biggest problem of all. Which was precisely why Marie had hesitated to even bring it up until now.

“...So the question is... in the seventy-two minutes that we have until the enormous weapon fires its main cannon at us again—how can we connect the bypass that will allow us to destroy that gigantic thing from the Pillar of Heaven, huh...”

After all, the shot just now entirely evaporated the linkage that we were nearly finished building. We’re back where we started in terms of the bypass, not to mention— “With eighteen less pairs of hands to help at that... haha...”

—Marie could only laugh. The eighteen outstanding Meisters controlling eighteen separate service automata, Konrad who had synchronized with Vermouth’s body, and Marie herself, had spent more than an hour working on the bypass together. Yet, with how badly things were damaged, they now had to redo the combined work of twenty people with just two in less time than before.

—It’s impossible. This joke’s in terrible taste. No matter what kind of plan I draw up in my mind, none of them will manage to make it in time. However... I don’t have the luxury to hesitate right now.

In the midst of the silence broken only by the blowing wind, Marie shouted, “—Naoto, we’re going to remake the bypass! Tell me how this place is structured again—”

“Hey Marie, do you even know what you’re saying?” Naoto laughed shakily. “—Tell me, how the heck am I supposed to hear the sounds of vaporized gears?”

Marie gulped. With that short comment that hinted at an ordinary boy being on the verge of breaking—Marie felt like everything was absolutely and positively over. No ifs, ands, or buts. It was as if a god had just announced the end of the world.

●

The floor was enveloped by the abnormal noise coming from the gears of the Pillar of Heaven, the windy draft, and— The thing most precious of all, time—ticking away from the clock. Miraculously, or perhaps cruelly, the device had survived the blast.

Everyone simply kept quiet where they were, not knowing what to do. Marie was also sitting on the floor, staring fixedly at the clock. Four minutes had already passed. —A tenth of our remaining time has already fruitlessly gone by.

Looking like she just thought of something, she muttered, “...Would it be too late to start evacuating the metropolitan residents now?”

Houko, who was sitting next to her, immediately replied, “I think it would be impossible. At present, there is no one who can oversee the task of informing the residents and leading them in an evacuation. Moreover, those who are sharp should have already begun to escape long ago... though whether or not their efforts will be enough to save them is another matter.”

“...Yeah, you’re right. I know that as well, but...” I couldn’t stop myself from asking anyway, Marie sighed.

Naoto, who was sitting on the opposite side, said to RyuZU and AnchoR, “Hey, would you two at least be able to save yourselves?”

“Out of the question. In case you have forgotten, Master Naoto: The option of leaving you behind and escaping by myself does not exist within me. If this fact has already slipped your mind, then I would have to suspect that you have a severe case of amnesia,” RyuZU immediately replied.

AnchoR also clung to Naoto tightly and wouldn’t let go. “AnchoR doesn’t want to either...! AnchoR won’t leave father!”

—Escaping from here is impossible in the first place, Marie thought. Gennai Hirayama had fired upon the Pillar of Heaven with the intention of destroying it with that one shot.

Thanks to Naoto’s intuition, we managed to limit the damage from the first shot to ‘just this much,’ but—with so many clockwork parts erased, forget linking up the bypass, we can’t even manipulate the weather anymore. Defending ourselves from the next shot is impossible.

So what’ll happen when it comes?

First, the Pillar of Heaven—which, true to its name, reaches all the way to the heavens—will break and collapse. It goes without saying that the collapse of the tower would be enough to trigger the start of a severe calamity.

Next, the entire capital will cease functioning and collapse down into the core of the planet.

And, should Tokyo collapse, all of Japan might follow. Should that happen, all of Asia and eventually even the entire Clockwork Planet might suffer fatal damage.

Run away? Try as one might, one still wouldn’t be able to escape the consequences. And—no matter how much I think about it... there’s nothing we can do to stop it.

Marie lowered her eyes as she ran her trembling fingertips across her lips. Her lips felt dry and withered. There was a creeping unease crawling up her spine and yet, at the same time, she felt a numbing terror floating around her temples. What is this...?

Marie realized: —It’s despair.

It didn’t start here. I’ve already been despairing for two days now—ever since I witnessed that EMP, a power that could destroy the world.

Back then, along with all the clockwork devices, my own heart froze as well—my will’s been broken for ages. I’ve simply been clinging to the magic that is Naoto.

Deep down, Marie prayed with her parched, frozen heart as she asked, “—Naoto, can’t AnchoR and RyuZU destroy that weapon?”

Naoto replied with a lackluster voice, “Maybe. But the two of them would definitely be wrecked in the process—I’d rather let the entire world collapse than let that happen—but.” Naoto furiously scratched his head and bit his nails with an expression that Marie had never seen before.

—He knows, Marie thought, that if this continues, it’ll only be a matter of time before the same fate befalls the two of them just the same.

He knows that, but he still can’t bring himself to give them the order to attack the enormous weapon.

He can’t resolve himself to abandon RyuZU and AnchoR to save the world but he can’t just abandon the world either.

...That’s to be expected. He’s only human. He worries, hesitates, and makes mistakes like the rest of us.

He isn’t some convenient magic that can grant any wish.

Only understanding such an obvious fact now, Marie’s gaze fell to her feet. Not even a sigh escaped her lips.

Just then.

“...Father.” AnchoR suddenly stood up. “...Please, give AnchoR the order—”

Naoto immediately raised his head and shook his head sternly. “—No, absolutely not! Please, don’t make me repeat myself over and over again... AnchoR.”

“But, but... if this goes on...”

“Yeah, I know, I know okay! Please, AnchoR—let me keep that as our absolutely last resort. I’ll do something about the situation. I definitely will, so—” Naoto begged.

However, Marie inadvertently noticed something unusual. AnchoR’s small shoulders were trembling as she took a step back from Naoto.

“...No...”

“Eh?” Naoto tried to look into AnchoR’s eyes, but AnchoR had lowered hers. “I’m sorry Father... I can’t... obey, that order.”

“AnchoR...?” Naoto muttered, dumbfounded.

Immediately after, a shockwave broke out. AnchoR had leapt, flipped in midair, and dove head first through the gaping hole in the floor—she was heading straight down towards the enormous weapon far below.

“AnchoR!!” Even as Naoto called out to her, she wouldn’t stop. The red and white figure in the distance shrank to a speck in a flash. Naoto turned towards RyuZU and yelled, “RyuZU! Bring her back immediately!”

“...I am not capable of physically stopping AnchoR once she has taken action.”

“In that case... nghhh,” Naoto groaned as he furiously scratched his head and flailed about. “Then tell her this for me! ‘Wait for just another sixty-four minutes! Please. I’ll definitely find a way to take care of the situation before then!’”

“—Understood,” RyuZU said as she elegantly bowed. Just as the skirt of her black dress began to flutter, however, she suddenly stopped and turned around.

“Mistress Marie, may I have a word?”

“...M, Me?” Marie stuttered, taken by surprise. What could it be? RyuZU’s never said anything to me of her own volition before...

“I simply wish to inform you that I have decided to consider the princess’s advice post-haste. Personally, I am quite certain that this is nothing but a waste of time, a small vain hope but... That said, though I may be flawless as a follower, I am not reluctant to admit the very obvious fact that I am not a completely omnipotent being—I am the most modest one among my sisters, after all.”

“...Oh, really.” Marie nodded. Don’t you mean the haughtiest?

RyuZU straightened her posture. “Mistress Marie, Master Naoto is always reading the back of your regrettable mind. You would do well to remember that a theory is ultimately nothing but an idea that has been selectively compiled into a clear text for the convenience of sharing with others. The Truth has never been universal, unchanging, or fair, which is precisely why I find it terribly difficult to admit this, but—”

RyuZU paused for a breath. Her topaz eyes were reflecting Marie’s image in them as she said, “—You are right. So is Master Naoto. But at the same time, you are both wrong.”

“Right... but wrong...?” Marie parroted in a daze. ...I can’t get a handle on what she’s saying. However, RyuZU’s words reverberated within her heart.

—In the end, who’s really the one that’s making a fundamental mistake?

RyuZU bowed with a cool, composed face. “Feel free to push your lacking brain to its limits in considering what I have said, Mistress Marie. Well then, I am a bit short on time, so—excuse me.”

The next moment, RyuZU turned on her heels and dove straight down through the gaping hole, leaving Marie behind. Everyone that was left focused their gazes onto Marie. As everyone else remained frozen still, not uttering a peep, Naoto stood up and quietly said, “Let’s get to it, Marie.”

—Get to what? As Marie was still trying to fully grasp the inkling she got from RyuZU’s words, she muttered, baffled, “...I mean, what can we possibly do?”

“That’s obvious. We’re gonna do something about the situation.”

“I’m asking you what that something is!” Marie yelled from the floor. “You said it yourself didn’t you?! That there’s no way you can hear the sounds of gears that have been erased, that there’s nothing we can do! We’re just gonna ‘do something about the situation’? —No such convenient magic exists you know?!”

“So what! So what!!” Naoto’s angry roar reverberated throughout the floor. “So you’re just gonna give up?! So you’re just gonna kick the bucket without trying?! Yeah, if you want me to admit it then I will! I have no clue what we should do!!”

Having her collar seized by Naoto, Marie became unable to breathe as she was yanked up off the floor. Gray eyes full of anger glared down at her. “Listen stupid! Do I really have to remind you?!”

“......about what?”

“About what kind of woman you are!”

Naoto’s shout made Marie’s shoulders tremble. Naoto’s grip on her collar was forceful, tight. With a face twisted by rage, he said, “You— You’re always spouting your ideals with that proud, haughty, insolent, and naturally condescending attitude of yours, and yet, when push comes to shove, you immediately give in to the pressure like jelly!

The very second things don’t go your way you start grumbling as you think yourself into a corner. Then, you self-destruct and take everyone else down with you! That’s why you’re one hell of a nasty walking landmine... grr!!”

“—You lookin’ for a fight?” Marie reflexively replied in her normal tone.

“But!!” Naoto paused for breath. “You’re a woman who’ll never believe that something’s impossible—aren’t you?!”

—Marie’s eyes widened. For a moment, she couldn’t comprehend what had been said to her.

Before she had the time to reply, Naoto irritably shook his head, ranting, “God damn it! Why do I have to say something like this for you?! It pisses me off to no end, I mean you’re a genius, right?! Yeah, sure, so maybe I can do something that no one else can! But it was your talent that put my ability to use wasn’t it?!”

“——”

“Wasn’t that the case for what we did in Kyoto? What about Akihabara? Well, wasn’t it?! I couldn’t have repaired AnchoR or RyuZU in time without your help, and old man Halter wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you! We probably wouldn’t even have been able to escape Akihabara without you in the first place!!”

“———”

Flooded by the raging billows that were Naoto’s words, Marie ceased thinking. She blinked twice as Naoto continued madly shouting, “—Tell me Marie, please! With yours brain, skills, and talent—why do you always give up so easily?!”

What she sensed from his words, though baffling to her—was envy, jealousy...

“If you’re just gonna let it rot then hand it over! Just give me that talent of yours— Hey Marie are you listening?!”

A word that Marie couldn’t believe she heard pierced her ears.

—Talent? Did you just say talent? Someone with a real, magical, godlike ability that no one else can imitate is pestering me of all people about talent...?

“...Naoto?” Unable to understand, Marie raised her hands up in front of herself. She wrapped her hands around Naoto’s, where he was still holding her up by the collar, and gently touched the scorched skin where he had been burnt. As she tenderly felt the bumps of his scars, Naoto released his grip on her collar.

“Marie...” Like a flame that had burnt out, all the energy left Naoto’s body. Marie suddenly noticed the large teardrops that had formed in corners of his gray eyes. They looked like they would fall any moment now.

...Ah. As startling and unbelievable as it is... it seems like this idiot seriously envies me. I can’t understand it one bit. ...I don’t know why he would envy the talent of someone so brittle like me, but he does.

The moment Marie understood that fact, she felt a welling fire light up in her heart once more—as proof of that, Marie swung her right hand with all her might.

Slaaaaaaaaaap!

“Ugeh?!” Naoto’s left cheek rippled to that cracking sound. As Naoto’s neck recovered and recentered from the blow, Marie greeted him with her left hand all the same.

Slaaaaaaaaaap!

A cracking sound broke out again as Naoto’s right cheek rippled from the full force of Marie’s might.

“Ugwah?!” As Naoto was left in shock with two swelling cheeks, Marie seized his collar and pulled herself up. On her feet, she then rammed her knee into his solar plexus.

“Oof—?!” After which, Marie then slithered behind him and hooking his foot with her own, pulled him into an arm-lock at lightning speed. She proceeded to put him through the wringer. Literally.

“—Hey, wait, time out! S, Stop you idiot! Something’s gonna dislocate!” Naoto stomped with his feet, struggling to free himself.

However, Marie completely ignored his plea, roaring, “What kinda retarded bullshit did you think you were spouting in my face...!! Huh?!” Marie felt her body temperature rise from the agitation as she continued, “Like you’re one to talk! You’re the one who’s letting an absurd talent rot in waste—!! If you can’t even use them properly, then give your ears to me!”

If I had this guy’s hearing, just what kind of amazing things could I do?

Or perhaps—what if this guy even had even a modicum of skill as a clocksmith?

...Just how many times do you think this absurd wish has inadvertently crossed my mind?!

Naoto shouted back, “Yeah—damn it! I would if I could! If that’d help resolve anything about the situation then I’d give them to you right this second!!! Otherwise—”

He paused for a breath.

“Give me your talent—figure out a way to do so! Right this second!!”

“—Yeah sure, why not?! I’ll do just that!!”

As Marie yelled back tit for his tat, Naoto glared at her. Seeing his expression, Marie finally understood. “The grass is always greener on the other side.” Just as I’m jealous of him, he’s jealous of me. We both envy and desire the other’s gifts. Upon that realization, their whole argument became silly to her. ......Yeah! I’m done, I’m done, okay?! That’s enough worrying brain, thank you very much!

That’s right, now that I think about it, everything is odd. Ridiculous. Why do I, the noble Marie Bell Breguet, have to count on this idiot, this incorrigible pervert, this crazy bastard who sees a completely different world from the rest of us to drag me around and show me the way?!

That’s gotta be wrong—it should be the reverse if anything!

Everything’s pissing me off! I’m so irritated!

I can’t help but be mad at both myself and everyone else as well!! All you shitheads in the world should just Die! Die die die!!

In the first place, everyone’s just doing as they damn well please! How dare you shitty good-for-nothing inferior creatures trouble me without my permission! Prostrate yourselves! Kneel!

—And, And... huh? Umm, what was I thinking about again? Marie released Naoto from her grip and quickly remembered. “—Right right, yes, right! Why don’t I just teach you! If I do that—we can break through this shitty situation!!”

Marie’s joyous yell gathered everyone’s attention. It’s simple, Marie thought to herself as she announced, “When you break it all down—if Naoto had my technical skills, we could do something about the situation. He’d be able to grasp the structure of the surviving movements of this floor and make a new bypass for them. Conversely—if I had Naoto’s hearing, I could do the same thing. Isn’t that right?”

“And so,” she continued, “if I were to summarize why this shitty situation has had us at our wits’ end up to now—it’s because of one simple factor: The situation is so severe that if Naoto and I split up our work, we wouldn’t be able to finish in time.”

Marie turned around to see the idiot in question scowling at her as he nursed his aching joints. “That’s why—we’re gonna go with the give-and-take principle, Naoto.”

With that, Marie returned to a thought that she had dammed up in the back of her mind. —Who’s really the one that’s misunderstanding something fundamental?

The words RyuZU had said to her dashed round and round in her mind— Damn it. I absolutely don’t want to admit it, but as hard as it is to believe— Marie took in a nice, slow breath and looked around herself...

Houko was there. Halter was there. Vermouth was there. She could sense Konrad’s presence in Vermouth as well. And finally, Naoto was there, right in front of her.

Gathering the attention of all of them, Marie announced, “—Your hearing doesn’t lie, so I’ll teach you how to make the most of your ability. In return, teach me how to perceive things like you do...!”

●

“How to make the most of my hearing...?” Naoto parroted in a daze.

“You said it before, didn’t you? That no matter how many times you read over your textbooks and manuals you can’t understand what they say one bit. In other words, it’s because what they say contradicts what you intuitively know from your hearing, no?”

“Y, Yeah...” Naoto nodded.

“Then it’s simple—the textbooks and manuals are wrong. What your hearing’s been telling you was right all along.”

“...Haah?!” Naoto cried, telling Marie in a fluster, “W, Wait a second here. The stuff I read, those were the latest editions of technical manuals you know?!”

“I’m sure they were. That’s why... what’s mistaken is our current understanding of clockwork technology.”

Marie admitted it. ...I ended up admitting it. Marie nervously trembled at her own words.

Houko, Halter, and Vermouth all seemed to be staying their breath. Meanwhile, Konrad said in a frightful voice through Vermouth’s voice mechanism, “Dr. Marie— Please excuse me for interjecting, but what do you mean by what you just said...?”

“—Exactly that. The clockwork theories that we learned are wrong.”

Marie could sense Konrad gulping through Vermouth’s voice box. It’s to be expected, Marie thought. Admitting that modern clockwork theories are wrong—automatically implies a rejection of all the knowledge and skill that we’ve engraved into our very flesh and bones.

However...

“Naoto’s sense of hearing which allowed him to fix RyuZU’s imaginary gear and precisely determine where the abnormality of Kyoto’s core tower lay is undoubtedly correct.

So, if something contradicts that hearing of his—it must, by necessity, be wrong,” Marie said as she stared intensely at Naoto. “Though I’m ashamed to admit it, I don’t understand how your hearing works. But the one thing that I can say is—that ability of yours is not simply functioning on the dimension of good hearing.”

“So... what exactly are you getting at with all this?” Naoto asked in bewilderment.

“You—know the answer to things,” Marie asserted.

“I know... the answer?” Naoto parroted with a baffled expression.

Marie nodded. “The answer always comes to you first; you know how things should be, how mechanisms sound when they are functioning normally. If that weren’t the case, you couldn’t possibly grasp the movements of tens of trillions of fine parts, something that should be fundamentally impossible. In spite of you vaguely describing your ability as hearing the discord in the sounds of mechanisms, your answer is—much too precise.”

She continued, “—No modern clockwork theory was written with senses like yours in mind. In the end, that’s why you’re always left with no choice but to try and find the answer through brute force.”

—Indeed, it’s no wonder that he couldn’t properly do his schoolwork or read blueprints. If the work he was assigned, if the blueprints he was shown—were “incomplete” in the first place—they would only confuse Naoto, because Naoto knows the “full” picture.

“That’s why—I’m going to give you a lesson. I’ll probably be the first one to do so. I, Marie Bell Breguet, am going to teach you a curriculum tailored especially to you. So get the earwax out of your ears and listen carefully...”

Naoto gulped. He straightened his back and gazed intently at Marie. He was wearing a serious face that clearly showed that he didn’t want to miss her slightest gesture, much less even a single syllable of her words.

Marie lightly nodded and began the lesson— “Break things apart and analyze them yourself. Class dismissed.” —Which promptly ended in two sentences.

“............Haah?” Naoto scowled, his disappointment apparent on his face. Are you messing with me?

Marie continued, “If you can already see the answer, then all you need to do is break the problem apart and work backwards toward the original question.”

“Work backwards...?”

“To give you a metaphor, you probably... no, certainly—hear how the orchestra should sound before they even start playing.”

“...”

“—And when the orchestra finally starts actually playing, you become disappointed at their shitty sound. So, you pick out the sounds of all the different instruments, all the individual musicians, and fix all the wrong notes until alas—it becomes the song you were supposed to hear. Know what I’m talking about?”

Naoto stayed silent. However, if one looked at the astonishment written on his face, the answer to Marie’s question was clear—his face was saying, “How could you describe what it’s like for me so accurately?”

“What you need isn’t the blueprint of a mechanism but the score of the symphony of its gears, as you perceive things completely differently from us clocksmiths...”

Marie paused and shook her head.

“—Actually, it might not even be the score that you need but pictures of their waveforms. At any rate, you perceive gears in a completely different way from normal humans. That’s the real answer behind the discrepancy between the manuals and your senses. What you see is how the gears move together, their music... in other words, their flow.”

—Hmm yes, it’s the same as light for example.

Light behaves like both a particle and a wave.

It’s said that the question of whether light is really a particle or a wave gave scientists in the ancient era a lot of trouble.

So, if we were to take that and apply it to clockwork—what modern clockwork theory considers purely “particles,” Naoto perceives as “waves.”

Without having been taught by anybody—he naturally hears them as sound. And, as absurd and irrational as it is, his interpretation is also correct.

Just like how light is both a particle and a wave—if you think about it that way, it all makes sense.

It would explain why Naoto, despite having the talent to grasp the structure of clockwork mechanisms more accurately than anyone else in the world, can’t understand even elementary clockwork theory.

This disgustingly talented boy—was taught things that are completely wrong. If nothing else—for Naoto, all of our modern clockwork theory is nothing but a shackle. Of course it is. It’s obvious that that’d be the case. It has to be by definition.

After all, how could he possibly reconcile what he intuitively knows about how clockwork behaves as waves with how they behave as particles if he was only taught the latter?

And that’s exactly why what Naoto needs isn’t to understand modern clockwork theory—but simply to understand the basis of what he hears.

“You don’t need to worry about repairing or assembling mechanisms. What you should do—is break things down and work backwards from there.”

Naoto can envision perfect images of clockwork inside his head. What Marie was saying was that if he took that image he sees inside his head, which isn’t even a micrometer different from the real thing, and reverse-engineered the process by which he mentally constructed it—that the result would be his own personal blueprint of the mechanism.

Naoto eagerly watched Marie as he finished taking her lesson. His gaze expressed a jumble of respect, admiration, and envy. It was the same reverent gaze that Marie had received countless times from her colleagues during the time she had been in Meister Guild.

To have Naoto of all people look at her like that made her feel ticklishly proud—but at the same time, she also felt humiliating defeat. Pushing those complicated feelings aside, she forcefully declared, “Now then, it’s your turn to teach me...!”

●

...I’m no genius at all, Marie admitted to herself with a calmness that surprised even herself. I’m just a fake who desperately tries to keep up the appearance of a genius due to my pervasive inferiority complex.

A real genius would be my older sister or my father—or the aggravating, perverted bastard in front of me right now.

I have some talent. I also put in the effort. So I get results.

But that’s all.

I can’t go beyond that. Even if I can use what someone else created better than anyone else, I can’t create anything new. I can’t make the impossible possible with just my own ability. What’s impossible for everyone else is also impossible for me.

Because she understood that fact better than anyone else, Marie defined herself as such:

“—I’m a woman who’ll never believe something’s impossible.”

It wasn’t out of stubbornness or pride on her part. It was the self-imposed rule that she absolutely couldn’t compromise if she was to live her life as someone she could be proud of.

And now, to uphold that rule, Marie chose to reject all the common sense that had formed the basis for her understanding of the world.

—Now then, make your resolve, Marie.

What you’re about to be told is an understanding of the world that works on entirely different assumptions.

Just what will he tell me? What will he teach me? And will someone as measly as me truly be able to comprehend it?

She shook her head to dispel her doubts.

—No, Marie. It’s not “will I,” it’s “I will.”

Just how does the superhuman before me see the world? —You don’t have to understand all of it. Just a fragment or a piece would already be plenty.

I’ll swallow anything, no matter how absurd it is, then, I’ll demonstrate my new understanding with my own hands. I definitely will—! Marie worked herself up as she waited for Naoto to speak.

Naoto told her in one breath, “I think you already understand, Marie.”

“...I already understand...?” Marie parroted, raising an eyebrow.

Naoto nodded. “You’ve already mastered it... my not-so-special little trick that is. You’ve had it down for a long while now. You proved that when you connected old man Halter’s brain pod to the Black Tortoise didn’t you?”

“...What are you talking about? That was—just because I happened to know the blueprint—”

“Really?” Naoto sighed. “You’re telling me that you were able to make a modification that you had never done before, in that short amount of time, without even thinking about it?” His gray eyes brimming with admiration, Naoto asserted, “You can see it already, Marie. The ‘outcome’ that is—the future to reel into reality.”

—Just as Marie was about to reflexively deny that, she shook her head.

He isn’t mistaken—didn’t I admit it myself just now?

Naoto Miura—knows things that he shouldn’t have any way of knowing.

I don’t understand the theory or implications behind that fact at all, but it’s been proven that it has to be the case.

In that case, if Naoto says I can do it—then I can do it, he’s right. None other than the embodiment of the qualities I admire the most is attesting to my ability—what could possibly be more reassuring than that?

Marie became certain.

—Naoto Miura simply happens to have ears that are slightly keener than the average person. Just as he says himself, it’s just a slight variance that lies within the standard deviation of all humans.

If one were to treat his hearing as a superpower simply because modern equipment can’t compete with it in terms of precision—Marie Bell Breguet, if you really wish to claim that that is the correct way of looking at things—then show me a piece of modern equipment that can do a better job than you at anything clockwork-related.

In the end, it’s just a little trick of his. A slight variance that lies within the standard deviation of all humans. A mere difference in aptitude.

However, when that slight variance meshes with a honed intuition—the human brain surpasses reason.

...Didn’t Halter prove that?

...Doesn’t Naoto’s existence prove that?

—Haven’t I proved that myself plenty of times up to now!!

Immediately after, the image that flashed in her head made Marie stretch her eyes wide open.

“—I get it now. We’re complete opposites from each other aren’t we... in everything.”

“Opposites?” Naoto muttered perplexedly.

Marie became certain of it as she gazed into his eyes.

That’s right, opposites.

Marie Bell Breguet starts by arranging all the facts that she knows about a scenario in her mind and tries to deduce the answer from there.

Naoto Miura starts with the answer he’s looking for and tries to reverse-engineer a scenario that’ll make it a reality.

In that case, it’s just a difference in methodology—what I need to do is simple. ...I just need to work backwards from the answer.

Marie raised her head and said with vigor, “Naoto, tell me the structure of stuff like the main circuits and movements of the Pillar of Heaven—basically, anything you heard that sounded important to you. What I want you to do is convey to me the outcome we need.”

“...Sure, I guess. I’m not confident that I can express it well in words though, alright?” Naoto replied with a troubled expression.

Marie smiled ferociously. “Just tell me—I’ll decipher, memorize, and digest everything you say— What, are you implying that I can’t? How impertinent!”

Seeing Marie like that, Naoto’s eyes turned serious as he lightly nodded. “...Alright then, Marie. I’m not as smart as you are and I’m not that good with words. But, I’m sure you’ll be able to understand even if no one else can, so I’m just gonna tell you my raw impression.”

“—Right.” Marie almost added “Bring it on,” but swallowed those words at the last second as she bit down on her lip.

And so— “Marie, please listen carefully, then forget what I’m about to tell you.”

“—Eh?” Marie uttered as she stumbled from the very beginning on Naoto’s contradictory words.

However, Naoto paid her no mind and continued, “You don’t have to memorize what I’m about to tell you, but don’t forget it either. Just listen to everything I say, but don’t listen too deeply, alright? Think about it, but don’t think about it—acknowledge it flowing in one ear and let it flow out the other.”

“—”

“Everything is right but at the same time wrong. What seems contradictory is in fact true. Right is left and vice versa. There’s nothing here, but at the same time, that nothing holds everything.”

“———”

“You don’t know but you know.”

——Say that again...?

“You know but you don’t know.”

——Hey...

“You don’t remember but you do; alright, let’s get started.”

——Wait...

The temperature of Tokyo’s grids can’t be manipulated from the Pillar of Heaven—but they can be. All the floors and all the components that make up this tower work together. They’re a single unit—but at the same time they’re their own spare.

They flow from above to below, from below to above, from right to left, from left to right, from front to back, and from back to front again, as one block. If you just ignore the physical media, then what you’re really left with is a flow of pure energy. Governing mechanisms are both nowhere and everywhere; in other words, there are some here too.

The gears that have been lost are still missing, they won’t ever come back, but at the same time, the other gears that are left will shoulder their burden. What we should do is not try to work around that fact, but take the direct path instead.

Satisfy the conditions. Trick the mechanisms. Stop the balance wheels from turning, stretch the springs, twist the escape wheels, remove the hooks, drop the anchors, and raise and lower the needed gears, then restart the balance wheels and align them with the pendulum.

Lower the rotational speed of the 86,754^th set of mechanisms all the way to the pace of the 96,640^th set so that they match the turn rate of the 36,396^th gear and keep them there at that speed... Reconnect the transmission gears then connect the 457^th gear to the 3,360^th wire and lower all the escape wheels. Lower the amplitude of the swing of the anchors from 4,634^th units to 3,053^th units. At the same time, connect the 1^st through the 3,530^th set of mechanisms directly to the 406,464^th set right below them.

lf you synchronize the operations of the fifteenth floor to the eighteenth floor, you can control the energy that flows up from the set of springs at the base of the tower to the rest of the tower.

With that, you can have the energy that powers the twenty-second through the twenty-eighth floor shared with the twenty-first floor and through that, reach the twentieth floor as well—where the difference engine lies. With that, you can then seize control over the power mechanisms that power Tokyo’s various grids.

So, ignore the missing mechanisms on the twentieth floor and draw power to the floor anyway. Then, stop. Restart the transmission gears and increase the turn rate of all sets of gears.

It isn’t the weather or the temperature that we’ll try to change, but the flow of energy. We’re not going to induce weather phenomena by setting the right conditions but create them directly instead.

Find some numbers that’ll let us bend the laws of physics to our will. You don’t have to calculate them; just find some values that you like. Whatever you choose, they’ll be the right ones. But at the same time, they’ll be the wrong ones.

So, to make up for that, we’re going to put some other mechanism to work. Cut all the wires in the 35,350^th set of mechanisms then reverse the direction of the gears of the 457,060^th set. Let energy pass through those mechanisms without any being lost.

We’ll reverse the output and input energy and use both, which will allow us to retrieve the energy we need for a split second. Synchronize the turn rates of all the sets of mechanisms from the fifth floor to the tenth floor. Raise their turn rates from 3,535 rpm to 4,540 rpm and make sure to tune them so that this increase doesn’t cause any problems.

The mechanisms that’ll need tuning are in the 3,500^th set of the 3,356^th block. Take safeguards to prevent the mechanisms from falling apart. Break them yourself. Turn the movements themselves. If you do just that, the mechanisms will rearrange themselves without needing any further help from you.

Before we resort to brute force, the gears will subordinate themselves to us willingly. Force the 5,356^th set of mechanisms to operate until they break down. Then, continue letting the broken parts operate anyway so that they break down even further. That’ll safeguard against the other mechanisms falling apart.

Tracing the connections of that set will lead you to the aroma box on the twenty-ninth floor. Reel in the box and have it replace the broken set. Have it turn both regularly and irregularly, redefine how it should normally function. Seal the gaps and wring heat out of it. Transmit that heat to the twenty-sixth grid of Tokyo. The characteristic turn rates of the mechanisms in its core tower are 3,430, 3,035, 3,056, 3,053, 3,124, 3,894 rpm. Clockwise.

Though the two towers aren’t connected by wires, we can use the coupled movements between its core tower and the Pillar of Heaven to transmit the heat instead. We have to raise the frequency of the twenty-sixth grid’s vibrations geometrically while keeping the frequencies of the surrounding grids the same.

The terminal movement on its first floor will serve as our reference. Nothing can be left approximate. Scale the values down for size but be sure to keep the ratios the same.

And lastly, something for you to think about— If clockwork contraptions won’t work with even a single gear missing, then how is this planet even running at this point?

“...Marie, you awake?”

“———————Huh?”

Seeing the hand waving before her eyes, Marie finally uttered something. She inadvertently choked on air— What did he just do to me... what the heck did he just say...?

“Alright, seems like you’re awake. Did you memorize it?”

“—Wha, huh, memorize what?” Marie tilted her head, still unable to properly articulate her thoughts. I do get the vague impression that he just said a lot of things to me, but—

“Alrighty then—I see that you have it memorized.”

“W...Wait a second now?! What did you just do to—”

“I told you that I’d give you my raw impression, didn’t I? So that’s exactly what I did.”

“W-Wait a second. You said that I have it memorized! I don’t have a single clue what you just said to me tho—”

“You do,” Naoto asserted as if it were as indisputable as pointing up to the noon sky and declaring that the sun is out.

“Look, Marie... You’ve not only memorized the blueprints of the products of the Breguet Corporation, but of all the weapons and machines throughout the world, even RyuZU. ...Isn’t that right?”

As Marie blankly nodded, Naoto sneered as if to pay her back for her condescending attitude up to now, “If you weren’t aware of it then let me enlighten you— That’s something that should normally be impossible.”

Marie’s eyes widened.

“I told you, didn’t I? You’ve already mastered my little trick. The only difference between you and me is that you see it with your eyes while I hear it with my ears— Ah, and I’ll have you know that I’ve got RyuZU’s structure memorized down to her last wire, so you better not think you’re the only one!”

As Naoto stood before her while haughtily puffing out his chest, Marie remained silent, gazing at Naoto dumbfoundedly.

—She thought about the meaning of his words. Is it really that I “remember” it? Or do I “know” it?

As Marie tried to hazily think her way through that question, Naoto said, “Don’t worry—if my impression came across as words, then you definitely understand what I said.”

“...Really?”

“You definitely remember what I said. You don’t remember, but you do. There’s no doubt that the Marie I know—the genius that you are—must have understood everything about this floor.”

“—Where are you getting the confidence to think that?”

“I don’t think that; I know that. The way you memorize things—it’s a little embarrassing, but I’ll tell you why I admire and even respect you.” He paused for a breath. “—We’re the same in this regard and only this regard. You don’t ‘memorize’ clockwork structures, Marie. You simply vaguely, abstractly grasp them somehow. That’s why—I thought that I might be able to do the same thing.”

An embarrassed smile surfaced on Naoto’s face. Then, with an expression that Marie had never seen from him before—a gaze of trust and conviction—he said, “Don’t worry. Believe in yourself.”

After just those few words, Naoto stood up. He picked up some tools that had been scattered on the floor and headed towards his station. Marie gulped down the saliva that had built up inside her mouth, then slowly stood up herself, following his example.

She picked up some tools, as she let her feet naturally lead her to her station. However, at that point—as her hands suddenly froze—she worried.

Frankly, I don’t understand a single thing that Naoto said to me. What should I do? What would let me understand his words? How should I approach them—?

As Marie began to follow that train of thought—suddenly, she sneered.

“Hah—” Marie scoffed at the her of just a few minutes ago, at the Marie Bell Breguet who had been twiddling her thumbs and basking in despair for the hundredth time, unable to move.

But— I’m different now. None other than Naoto, the unquestionable genius and hero that he is, her ideal self that she had always yearned for—had asserted with full confidence— That I should believe in myself.

The image of a hero that I’ve kept in my heart since childhood is going out of his way to assure me of that.

—Perfect. Marie smiled ferociously. For now—just this once, I’ll take his word as collateral and show him that I can enter the world that he sees just as easily as he’s asking me to—!

“—Four, in... Three, out—” Marie muttered as she submerged herself in absolute focus through a breathing exercise.

What she was aiming for was the focus she was able to achieve for just a split moment when she was connecting Halter’s brain pod to the Black Tortoise. The domain that she had once stepped foot in, a place where she could undoubtedly grasp an entire grid—!

“Three, in. Two, out. Two, in. One—”

—As she closed her eyes, the external sounds around her faded from her consciousness. By erasing all extraneous noise from her mind, everything became clear. ...Fully immersed in her own mind, she apprehended a vivid image with her inner eye.

—What was before her was a deep cavern. It was a dark, unfathomable place with a gate that had been broken open and just left to settle. On the broken door was an engraved warning from a certain classic epic.

“—Abandon hope all ye who enter here.”

I see. Marie chuckled bitterly as she became sure of it: The literal hell that lies beyond this gate—is the world that Naoto sees.

“—Abandon hope.” Hope, you say? Marie smiled. Forget abandoning it, I already lost that unreliable gift ages ago. In that case—I’ll replace my hope with the “greed” and “pride” that’ll allow me to pierce the veil and bring light to this world.

Just those two “deadly sins” are more than enough for me to dive into the hell that awaits me—!

And so, Marie began to take a step forward. However, just before her foot could land, the meager amount of reason that she still possessed within her warned: “If you dive into this world you’ll never be able to return.”

—I’m prepared for that. But, is this really—the world that Naoto showed me—? That slight hesitation broke her concentration, causing her to open her eyes and nervously look around. Upon which—she found that Naoto had already begun to work.

He began as usual by staring into space as he strained his ears. Then, slowly but surely, he began moving his hands without hesitation. What she saw—was a right and proper clocksmith. And so she became certain— Naoto transformed.

His hands aren’t as fast as mine. His work isn’t as polished as a Meister’s either. He picks up the wrong tool from time to time as well, but—because he doesn’t hesitate for even a single instant when deciding which parts he should adjust, in the end he’s working much faster than a newly certified Meister.

Marie corrected herself— Actually, he hasn’t undergone any transformation at all— That, that is his true form. That’s the reason I unconsciously detested him. Because, he’s a bona fide...!

“—Amateur”? As if. You’re a bona fide genius, Naoto—I know that better than anyone else... Tch...

Marie felt the fire in her heart crackle and swell as it roared into a hellfire that could burn everything to ash. —I’m gonna catch up to that! To that end, I’ll do whatever it takes no matter where it leads me...!!

As she became immersed in her own mind once more, she saw the cavern before her once again. Her world should have become silent again along with that—however...

“...Say, Marie.” A vivid voice resounded inside her mind. Squinting her eyes against the darkness, she saw Naoto slowly turn around to face her. He was standing firmly deep, deep inside the cavern—hell.

“—What are you acting scared for?” Naoto extended his hand towards her teasingly.

Marie flared in red-hot anger. “—Don’t get cocky, punk. Keep your hands to yourself— Don’t worry, I’ll catch up and send you a flying kick right this minute—!!” Marie howled in rage as she broke into a vigorous dash— She ran after the figure of her admiration at full speed.

And so, she dashed straight into hell— The instant she stepped foot inside the cavern—time stopped.

Ah, I see. Indeed, I’ve felt this before. Whenever I was fully immersed in repairs or focused to the max on something, this is how I felt.

The feeling of being a fish swimming freely in a dream, of my consciousness being expanded without limit towards omnipotence—this much is familiar to me already.

However, as Marie opened her eyes to reality—the world looked completely different to her, everything had changed. Looking up, she saw a set of gears chugging along just as usual—however, she could now see their force, their movement, their flow, their directions—as a jumble of wind and color.

She could see things she shouldn’t be able to see as wind.

She could sense things she shouldn’t be able to sense as color.

What Marie saw as color was most likely what Naoto heard as sound. Naoto perceived the vast amount of information that constantly assaulted his brain—through synesthesia. So too was a vast amount of information now assaulting Marie’s brain, drowning her in a sense of euphoria.

The relationship of the parts were as wind and the laws of binding physics, color. Stirred by this extraordinary sense of omnipotence, Marie thought aloud, “—Man, so I really was a genius after all.”

Suddenly, Marie recalled the despair and the absurd delusion she had filled her mind with in Akihabara. Ahh, looks like there’s hope for me yet, Marie sneered internally as she picked up a tool with her hand.

—Turns out that the false impression, no, the sense I got that “everything is an illusion” —was right. Everything I saw back then was wrong.

Or perhaps it’d be more accurate to say that I could only see the surface of the world, just as the inside of a movement normally isn’t visible due to its casing. Indeed, I’ve cleared away the veil. This is what the world looks like after you peel away its outer membrane.

Marie, who had abandoned all her assumptions of the world, was now certain—

Whether it’s the “irregularity” of Naoto being able to grasp the structures of not only core towers, but even the Pillar of Heaven...

Or the “irregularity” of Vermouth being able to fight so well in that thing that shouldn’t have functioned as an artificial body...

Or even the “irregularity” of me being able to successfully link Halter’s brain to a heavily-armored automaton...

Actually, that’s not all... Now that I’ve cleared away my assumptions—everything that I have simply accepted to be true up till now...

I can see that everything—everything in the world is both “irregular” and “normal.”

Non-contact coupled movements? Nanogears? Clockwork AI that’s capable of replicating human thought? Everything, absolutely everything, is “irregular.” —According to common sense, such things couldn’t possibly exist...!

Most likely, the people who fathomed the principles behind such things did so subconsciously, or perhaps they created those things by dipping their fingertips inside the “interior of the world.” With the same view that I’m now seeing, they made the impossible possible through their own ability—and fabricated the explaining theories after the fact.

All theories, sciences, and technologies work like that.

First there’s a replicable result, then comes the theory that humans try to forcefully frame it with to explain it.

Once a phenomenon is understood, it becomes obvious—so there’s something that can’t be explained with our current theories? So what? That’s nothing new.

—The Earth used to be flat.

After observing the stars, formulating equations, and creating the field of astronomy, people came to understand that the Earth was in fact a globe. They came to know that it was not the sun that revolved subserviently around the Earth but the other way around—so then, what was reality like before those facts were proven?

Was the Earth flat? Were we the center of the universe?

—No way, reality’s been the same all along.

And yet, throughout history, our world has constantly been “remade” by none other than—we humans ourselves, through our human perspective—!!

Due to the work of someone who was juuust a bit of a madman, just a little bit ahead of his time, the Earth was remade once more, this time with gears. That was something that happened a thousand years ago...

However, does that really mean—that the Earth wasn’t a clockwork contraption before that? Marie smiled. Thanks to my newfound senses, I’m beginning to doubt even that.

“Y” is supposed to have said— “I’ll show you all our world reproduced with gears.” In that case, Marie thought as she gazed at the whirling, colorful scenery around her once more. —Would this not be the true form, then—of the interior of the world?

Marie moved her hands. She sharpened her focus and invoked an image in her mind. Her accelerated thoughts wrung out the knowledge she was seeking from the vast amount of compressed information that her senses were feeding her. What she could do—was aligned with what she knew she should do.

“See? There’s no way that you can’t do something I can. Ain’t that right?” Naoto said in a lively voice. He had sensed Marie’s transformation from the sound and aura coming from her.

“—No duh...! Who do you think I am? I’m Marie—a genius who makes the impossible possible. I’m a god! The woman who’ll have you completely beat out and crushed one day!”

—Yes, I know. I can only see what I’m seeing right now because Naoto’s showing it to me. However, I’ll definitely show you that I can find my way back now that I know the feeling...!

Then, as the two of them let their instincts and intuitions take over, they exchanged smiles, after which—Marie began a performance that exceeded the limits of human reason. Any explaining theory would have to wait until after the fact.

●

AnchoR stood at the edge of Ueno Grid, she was looking down at Akihabara Grid right below it. The enormous clockwork monster was reflected in her red, glistening eyes. She reached for the cube by her chest. Just as she grasped it— “Stop right there,” someone called out to her from behind.

AnchoR didn’t bother turning around, after all, AnchoR didn’t have to turn to know who it was and what she had come to do. Instead, she simply said in a firm voice, “...Don’t stop me, Big Sis.”

“No,” her elder sister—RyuZU—answered, “I will stop you, because Master Naoto asked me to.”

“...Father said, that AnchoR can do what she wants... yes?”

“Acting freely and acting selfishly are two entirely different things. If a child mistakes the two, then it falls to the parent to scold and correct her. You are making that very mistake right now, AnchoR.”

AnchoR slowly turned around. “Then... in that case... what else can I do?”

RyuZU didn’t answer. However, AnchoR continued anyways. “...If I don’t destroy that, everyone will die. AnchoR’s the only one who can do something... Besides, AnchoR... can’t do anything but destroy. I’m different from Big Sis...”

RyuZU took those words head-on. Lowering her gaze ever so slightly, the gazes of the topaz and ruby eyes met. Taking in a breath, RyuZU said, “That’s where you are wrong—AnchoR.”

“...Huh?” AnchoR’s eyes widened. What’s Big Sis saying? Destroying is all AnchoR can do—I was the only one specialized for battle among us sisters.

RyuZU took a step towards AnchoR and bent slightly forward to get a better look at her face. “I shall repeat myself as many times as necessary. You were not made for such a reason. What ‘Y’ had expected from you is not such a base, simple thing.”

“......”

As AnchoR stood rigidly in confoundment, RyuZU reached her arms around AnchoR and gently hugged her. “—As ‘AnchoR,’ the one who received the decree to serve as ‘the one who destroys,’ you are surely the strongest in terms of power.”

“...Yeah, that’s why... AnchoR can only des—”

“That is exactly what you are misunderstanding—both why you were expected to serve as ‘the one who destroys’ and why you were given the name ‘AnchoR.’”

“Why... AnchoR was...?” AnchoR muttered.

RyuZU slowly pulled away and tenderly patted AnchoR’s head. “However.” She smiled bitterly. “Your feelings are not in the wrong. That is why—I will not stop you.”

“Big Sis...?” I don’t understand—what is Big Sis trying to say? What is AnchoR misunderstanding? What is the right thing for me, for AnchoR to do?

As AnchoR became confused, RyuZU added, “Your feelings are right and something to be praised. However, what I am saying is that you ought to believe in Master Naoto—and Mistress Marie, as well I suppose, but only as a footnote.”

She paused for a breath.

“—Wait until things truly cannot wait any longer.”

●

Watching as the boy and the girl demonstrated a divine feat that surpassed the limits of human reason before his very eyes, Vermouth quietly muttered, “Hey gramps... you’re a Meister too, right?”

The voice of an old man answered from the same mouth as the one that had asked the question. “...Yes. Technically you could say that.”

“Mind telling me one thing then? —Is that what a Meister is supposed to be? ’Cuz, if that’s the case, and this is coming from someone who gave up everything human about him except his brain mind you, they are far less human than...” Vermouth couldn’t bring himself to complete the sentence.

As Vermouth began to feel a sinking terror, Konrad said, “With due respect, Mr. Vermouth—those who would proudly call themselves Meisters before those two would only embarrass themselves.”

—Humans do have limits. They say “Human potential is limitless.” —But wax poetic as one might, reality won’t budge one bit.

Konrad had seen many promising, talented young people in his time.

They all certainly brimmed with intelligence. They would pick things up as a sponge does water and master them, making them their own. By inheriting the accumulated learnings of those who had come before them, they were able to advance into territory that no man had yet to reach in his lifetime.

However—even so, they too would eventually reach a wall somewhere along the way.

Frustration, complacency, satisfaction, overconfidence, loss of motivation—Konrad knew well that it would be simply too unreasonable to dismiss those reasons for people ending their self-improvement. It was simply human nature. It was the result of being spoiled by the taste of earlier success.

Because that’s what humans are. Thinking men always hit a wall somewhere. Despite having limitless potential, humans will seal away their possibilities somewhere along the line. Because if they didn’t, they’d be crushed by that very same potential. They’d end up destroying themselves, even. Because they’d go mad.

—However, Marie has already transcended such human fragility, Konrad thought. She’d never crack. Never fold. Despite suffering many defeats along the way, she has always continued to move forward—and by doing so, she has now already reached a place that could be called the very peak of this world.

At the very least, that was how it looked to Konrad. And that is precisely why the sight before his eyes baffled him—that small girl had willingly broken her own back by abandoning everything she knew. She’d wrung all the water out of her sponge and decided that she would advance forward no matter what.

—She’d given everything to chase after the boy who occupied that territory unknown to Konrad—no, it was territory that was most likely unknown to all who lived on this planet.

“...Dr. Marie, just how far do you plan to go I wonder...” Konrad muttered with admiration in his eyes, as if he were looking at something far away in the distance.

Vermouth sighed. “...How should I put it. Seeing something like this firsthand makes me want to challenge the dream that I had almost forgotten once more— They say that boys’ll always be boys no matter how old... Is that why I feel this way? What do you think gramps?”

“Hmm... I see what you’re saying... To be taught something by a youngling at this advanced age, I guess I still have a long way to go. Thinking about things from that perspective, I cannot help but feel excited. Even now, I am wondering what I will become capable of making in the future.”

Hearing that bright voice, Vermouth laughed bitterly. “Yeah, I’m expecting lots from you, old man. Make me the best Dutch wife ever.” He paused for a breath. “And this time—one that’s truly on the level of little miss Y-Series.”

Konrad didn’t show any displeasure at being teased. Instead, he simply asked curiously, “...Hmm? Do those words mean that you can sense it?”

“Nah. I’m just someone who’s been able to survive this long solely on my gut instincts alone.”

Looking down at his own artificial body—more precisely, the body of the love automaton that Konrad had made—Vermouth continued, “I simply can’t imagine that someone like you, someone who did such a thorough job on a mere love automaton—wouldn’t feel anything after seeing automata like that.”

“Well... it’s not really a big deal. I myself had forgotten about it after all,” Konrad said in a reminiscent voice. “—It’s a story from when I was in my twenties.”

“Now that’s gotta be some ancient history.”

“Back then, there was a greenhorn who had gotten carried away with hogging the label of genius all to himself. He was being fussed over as the youngest Meister in history, you see.”

“Oh, are you talking about yourself?”

“It’s great that you can read between the lines. Well anyhow, that greenhorn was summoned back to his homeland one day where he received a request directly from the incumbent queen at the time. Something to do with an automaton that the royal family had always kept hidden away that wouldn’t operate—if I recall correctly, the engraving on her neck... read ‘Y. [BezEL]’ ?”

“——”

Vermouth sank into silence as Konrad continued with a bitter laugh, “He couldn’t believe it. The equipment that was available back then—nearly half a century ago—certainly wasn’t as advanced as the equipment today, but seeing the terrifying, awe-inspiring, godly piece of art that was like an entire core tower compacted into an automaton the size of a girl—that greenhorn’s pride couldn’t help but be smashed to pieces. And so he swore... One day, he would definitely create an automaton to surpass that one.”

“...Is that why you’ve worked as a clocksmith all these years?”

“Hardly.” Konrad laughed bitterly. “I said that I had forgotten about it, remember? Well, surprisingly enough, it might have still been stuck deep in my heart somewhere, but... ‘To challenge the Initial-Y Series once more,’ hmm? ...It’s not a bad dream.”

“Sure, why not. Rechallenging a dream from your younger days, right? People do that all the time—it’s called a bucket list.” Vermouth laughed, his shoulders shaking uncontrollably.

However—he soon turned serious as he found himself looking at the clock on the wall. “Leaving that aside... Forget surpassing the limits of humans, it looks to me like they’ve even surpassed the limits of gods... what do you think, Gramps?”

“Yes, indeed... however, even at this pace—it’s still a fifty-fifty chance whether they’ll make it in time.”

The clock indicated that there were less than three minutes left. Naoto and Marie had shrunk the work that would have normally taken dozens of clocksmiths an hour to do down to thirty seconds.

However—will they really be able to make a new bypass for the Pillar of Heaven when it’s been damaged so severely?

Konrad wondered.

That is work that would take at least a month even with ten dozen clocksmiths working on it. And they mean to do so—in just a hundred and eighty seconds? It should go without saying, but—should they accomplish this, it would be a feat that surpasses even divine work.

●

—The prescribed time came. The seventy-two minutes that Naoto had requested were just about up.

“It can’t wait any longer,” AnchoR said as she stood up. “...Well Big Sis... AnchoR’ll be going now...”

AnchoR touched the swaying cube by her chest. With a creak, the gate to AnchoR’s armory appeared out of thin air. Reaching in, AnchoR dragged something out of it, but it wasn’t a weapon—it was a teddy bear. It was the one that Naoto had bought for her two days ago.

Pulling off the ring on the middle finger of her right hand, AnchoR handed it to RyuZU along with the bear. “AnchoR... doesn’t want these to be dirtied or broken, so... hold on to them please...”

“...I shall keep them safe.” Receiving the ring and the bear from AnchoR, RyuZU continued, “AnchoR, if you were truly serious, I think you could move even faster than myself under the effects of Mute Scream. You could still stand to wait until at least seventy-one minutes and fifty-nine seconds have—”

“Sorry, Big Sis... AnchoR won’t wait that long,” AnchoR immediately replied with a shake of her head. “AnchoR has fulfilled Father’s request... so... it’s fine now. AnchoR will put an end to everything, so Father and everyone else can rest easy—”

AnchoR turned around and looked down below—at the target awaiting her in Akihabara. The sinister, enormous thing—that was trying to kill the ones she loves.

As she stared down at the thing which she had decided to thoroughly, mercilessly destroy— AnchoR took a deep breath. She once again touched the cube dangling by her chest.

As the spring unwound, all of the energy that her Perpetual Gear had stored up till now was converted into kinetic energy.

“AnchoR,” her elder sister called her name from behind.

However, AnchoR didn’t turn around, she took a step forward instead—towards the battlefield—so that she could fulfill her purpose...

“AnchoR,” her elder sister repeated before continuing in her usual elegant voice. “—When you return, I imagine that Master Naoto will educate you on the side of yourself that you are not aware of. So, while I will not tell you to play it safe...”

The elder sister she was so proud of continued in a dignified voice, “All the same—come back in one piece. And, if you do not intend to do so—” RyuZU paused for a breath. “—I will bring you back with me right now. Even if I have to punish you a little.”

AnchoR bent her lips into a sorrowful frown. “...Sorry... but AnchoR’s too strong for Big Sis to stop.”

“Oh? I wonder about that. It is true that you are my proud younger sister, but it seems that you are getting a little carried away, perhaps some reeducation is in order...”

“———”

“—Past, present, or future, there is not a single automaton anywhere in the universe that surpasses me—nor has there ever been a younger sister anywhere—that surpasses her big sister.”

“Hehe,” —AnchoR chuckled and nodded. Immediately after, she kicked off from her perch, and leapt down towards the magnetized Akihabara Grid that lay 1,500 meters below...

As the intense wind caused her hair and clothes to flutter, the girl in red and white continued to fall. Opening her mouth slightly, she declared in a tone different from her usual stuttering. She was more composed, mechanical:

“Definition Proclamation—the Fourth of the Initial-Y Series, AnchoR, the One Who Destroys.”

Announcing her transformation, she confirmed her status.

(Condition check—all green. All mechanisms are operating normally under the First Balance Wheel of Differences.)

(All armaments are in working order. All conditions for running at full throttle cleared—limiter released.)

(Warning—Power Reservoir—is only 6.1% charged. Calculating projected run time... Calculations complete.)

(At full throttle mode with the Twelfth Balance Wheel of Differences, the maximum run time will be 3.2 seconds from your own frame of reference— Do you still wish to proceed?)

—AnchoR ignored the warning...

“Inherent ability— ‘Power Reserver’ ...Initiating transformational sequence.”

...and declared mutiny. In other words, AnchoR declared that from this moment forward—she would violate the laws of physics.

At the same time, she visually confirmed the distance to her target—the mobile composite electromagnetic assault weapon, Yatsukahagi. It spanned 320 meters in height and 932 meters in length.

(Heat source detected from its central actuators. Use of electromagnetic technology confirmed.)

For an instant, AnchoR felt someone laughing from somewhere deep within herself, but at the same time, far far away from her own consciousness. —Good grief, that’s as far as they’ve gotten in a thousand years? As AnchoR puzzled over what the voice inside her was, her combat algorithms analyzed the target in her sight.

(Enemy armaments: electromagnetic pulse radiation, railgun, maser cannon.)

(Equipping phased array radar and infrared sight. You are currently within the enemy’s firing range.)

(The target utilizes a magnetic shield for its plating. Judging by the fact that it repelled the First’s scythes, it is estimated that necessary force to neutralize it will require running on the Eleventh Balance Wheel of Differences at minimum.)

“—Enemy threat level, classification: ‘Black’ —Initiating Shift to the Thirteenth Balance Wheel of Differences”

Immediately after, the girl’s body flared up. As the laws of physics were contradicted, the air grated and friction was born.

“—Beginning transformation... Shifting to the Second Balance Wheel of Differences.”

The disk that had been inactive inside AnchoR—the automaton in the Initial-Y Series designed for combat—began to turn. The mechanism resembled a clock. Its clockhand jumped to where “II” was engraved, then “III.”

“—Shifting to the Third Wheel— ‘Bloody Murder’ can now be activated.”

At the same time, the girl’s glossy black hair spread out in an arc behind her as it was stained blood-red. Her pure white armor turned black and swelled as it was enveloped by an ominous web of red lines.

“—Shifting to the Fourth Wheel—the Fifth—Sixth, Seventh, Eighth—”

Her transformation accelerated. She could feel time being broken, creaking as it was distorted by the violent heat emanating from her body. Each time she shifted gears, the time in her frame of reference was stretched longer in a square function.

“Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh—”

As she felt the clockhand within her nearly make its way full circle, AnchoR resolved herself—to execute the “alternative method” that she had informed her master of a few days ago.

When AnchoR runs on high output, her available armaments become extremely limited, but the same is also true for the enemy—either way, it was not a problem, as she didn’t have any other means available to her, or the time for them even if she did.

“—Shifting to the Twelfth Wheel— Deploying armaments LB01, BC08 from the armory.”

The cube by her chest twisted. Immediately after, a sword of gears longer than her own height materialized in the grasp of her right hand. At the same time, eight floating orbs emerged from behind her and followed her movements to a tee.

...Then, the girl’s chest blossomed. The clothes covering her chest unraveled as her artificial skin tore asunder, her ribs forming into a vessel in her disheveled state. The twisting cube continued to accelerate without restraint to a speed that was extremely close to that of light as it slipped into the recesses of the girl’s vessel along with all of its infinite heat.

“—Removing precautionary limits by my own will.”

Inside her body, the clockhand that had been pointing to “XII” violently trembled as if to resist. The clockhand twisted and turned, shaking as it ran out of control. Finally, as countless cracks formed along its surface—it broke.

And at that instant AnchoR knew— Today’s the day that I wake up from my eternal dream.

“Shifting to the Thirteenth Balance Wheel of Differences— Starting self-destruct mode.”

Eternity burst into flames and within those flames, the girl was reborn as a woman. Her limbs grew, as did her hair which harbored an enormous amount of heat as it flowed down her back like a waterfall. As her armor melted away, a gorgeously pink, velvety dress wrapped around her freshly reformed nubile limbs.

“Chrono Hook— Initiating output of imaginary power by means of the Perpetual Gear. Materializing.”

Then, inside the world that had turned still, the beautiful young woman declared a second set of apocalyptic words of which, of all the Initial-Y Series automata, only she could say:

“——‘Still Weight’——”

She said it in the tone of an obituary that she had written for herself—her final farewell. The sound of her Perpetual Gear—the material manifestation of eternity coming apart sounded—and yet, at the same time it was still continuing to turn.

Reality repudiated the fantasy of an eternal girl, forcing her to awake from her dream. But what that awakening demonstrated was one simple fact. Namely, the absurd truth that, in exchange for her own demise—there was nothing in the entire universe that the Trishula could not destroy.

—It was simple really.

Unlike the First, who manipulated time by entering into imaginary time, the Fourth wrenched open a rift in time by letting her infinite heat do the work— Just now, AnchoR had cut all the power she was using to protect herself from the friction, inertia, gravity, and recoil which resulted from that—and raised her output to levels that would cause even her own body to disintegrate.

Just that was enough for her to continue to run at maximum output—just as the name Perpetual Gear implies.

—Perpetually... until the moment her body—her frame and all her parts—break apart as they reach their limit.

Leaving behind the contradictory sound of a symphony of demise that Perpetuity was playing—the beauty revolting against the universe tore apart the chains of physics and compressed the world around her as she dived through the air.

●

AnchoR charged forward inside the compressed world.

Normally, the eight floating orbs behind her functioned as small autonomous support units; however, AnchoR had them resonate with her Perpetual Gear which was raising their output so high that they began to volatilize. Under its influence, the muzzles of the eight orbs became a pseudo-booster spouting out invisible flames.

With the help of those eight powerful sources of propulsion, AnchoR accelerated. She charged towards the target at a speed imperceptible to machines, much less humans, as she entered effective range.

AnchoR was holding her giant sword with both hands before her as the edge of its blade lined with molecular gears began turning at an ultra-high speed.

Normally, those gears would be able to shred through anything regardless of how hard the object was, however, inside time that was nearly perfectly still—this little crevice between zero and one second—the gears weren’t able to synchronize. If she forced them to do so anyway, they would instantaneously vaporize like the orbs she was using as boosters.

That was why— AnchoR raised her sword, took her aim, and swung with all her might. Relying on the endurance of her sword, her invisibly fast swing, and the natural laws of physics...

—Go through— Ngggghhhha!

“—!” With a grinding sound, the blade went through...

—No. My apologies, sound does not actually propagate inside this space— Thus, AnchoR relied on the pressure against her hands for feedback as she continued her attack.

Pointing her eight orbs towards the site of the incision—AnchoR “threw” them, and blazing forth, the orbs crashed into the incision point at a speed faster than even that of light.

The orbs released an enormous amount of energy as they did so, and disintegrating upon impact, their heat tore off the electromagnetic coating on the massive weapon’s plating, vaporizing it.

With that, a hole large enough for someone to pass through finally opened, and AnchoR charged inside. Storming into the interior of the Yatsukahagi with considerable momentum behind her— Ngh...! —She crash landed as about twelve of the thirty-plus shock absorbers throughout her body broke.

As she felt her frame scream from all the fine parts throughout her body getting crushed— My gyro-correctional control system—is still fine... That’s good enough! AnchoR paid no mind to the damage. Standing back up, she dashed—or rather, glided—through the insides of the Yatsukahagi, and shaking off the fetters of gravity, she leapt and even “landed” on the wall as she continued to glide.

—The instant she arrived at her first objective, her right foot broke from the immense heat-strain and impact of stopping. Her frame twisted as her shock absorbers burst in two.

—Various parts throughout her body were now melting away despite having had no trouble withstanding the heat from when she had demagnetized herself. By now, AnchoR was emanating heat far greater than any of the Curie temperatures of the parts in her body.

However, she ignored that as well. With her eyes on the barrier wall she was rapidly closing in on, AnchoR swung her giant sword. The slash that tore through spacetime itself instantly turned the barrier into plasma, vaporizing it. Before the plasma could scatter, AnchoR accelerated even further by kicking off against the wall as—again, she sensed her foot being damaged—but ignored it all the same.

Inside the room in which she had arrived—she found 31 of the 1,033 coils that Naoto had mentioned. They were enormous cylinders made of spirals of fine coils producing a vast amount of electromagnetic energy.

...ah ....aaaaAAAaaAAAAAAAahhh!! Letting out a soundless battle cry, AnchoR shook off the pain signals coming from the linked mechanisms in her arms—and mowed through everything in the room in a single strike.

“———”

The only human inside the weapon—the one and only organic heat source—didn’t move a single bit. Rather, he couldn’t move—he probably couldn’t even perceive what was happening.

While inside Still Weight, AnchoR had no way of measuring the difference between the time outside and the time within her immediate vicinity. However, not even 0.24 second has passed—from the moment she severed the plating and charged inside, to now, when 809 coils had already been destroyed.

It would still take more than 0.3 tenths of a second for the first impact to propagate, Gennai’s brain to perceive it, and for him to become aware of the signals of the shockwave passing throughout the nerves of his body.

“———”

AnchoR took yet another step forward—each time she did so, her manipulator took on further fatally irreversible damage. And just the same, with each and every other step—the heat from the impact caused yet another layer of her actuator to melt away.

Even so, AnchoR continued to swing her giant sword until her right arm was torn off from the recoil. It flew off from the elbow down along with her giant sword and landed still clinging to the weapon’s handle in the opposite direction of her swing. The blade had lodged itself in the wall to her side at a speed which exceeded even the enormous weapon’s railgun.

However, AnchoR merely offhandedly removed her severed right hand from the handle of the blade and dislodged the sword with her remaining left—

...Hah——AH, Aaaah—AAAAaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAHHH—!!

—And swung again with all her might once more.

Explosions burst forth as space itself was torn. Due to the impact powerful enough to rip a hole through time, matter disappeared as a rift was formed. The marks of destruction rippled outward as heat and pressure washed away the wall along with everything else in the room behind it like a cleansing storm.

Light was generated from the intense heat as the impact invoked a frozen roar. Unable to withstand the backlash, AnchoR found herself slammed against the wall behind her. As the shockwave’s vibrations scorched the sealed space around her, AnchoR realized that her gyro was so beat up that it couldn’t even absorb that anymore.

—However, even so. AnchoR advanced to the next room like a revenant...

“———”

...It hurts... so... much... Her mental endurance had finally reached its limit.

She had been operating at a truly unobservable speed while all the while cleaving open the enormous weapon’s plating at a speed faster than that of light. And she hadn’t stopped there, nearly simultaneously, mere instants later, she was plowing through the interior of the weapon while mowing down everything in sight.

Upon destroying the 932^nd coil, she finally began to feel her own demise coming on. Her gyro had already melted away. Her left leg had completely ceased functioning from the knee down, her right forearm had torn off earlier, and even the giant sword that had made an astonishing display of endurance had just now vaporized.

Her thought processors were in shambles. Her failed mechanisms had been squashed by the natural laws of the universe. AnchoR had lost practically all of her mobility; but even so, as she arrived at her goal—

“Ah—AaaaaaaaAAAAAAaaAAAAHHH!!”

She soundlessly screamed her defiance as she bashed the door with her remaining fist. Her powerful punch pierced through the door with a force that caused several coils in the room behind it to explode.

As the broken pieces paid their dues to gravity, she perceived her own scream and the noise of the destruction...

...And with that she came to realize—that she was no longer moving faster than real time.

...It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts———so much... aggghhhhh! —Father, Mother, Big Sis, please, save me! I don’t want to— AnchoR’s survival instinct cried out in a moment of weakness before her reason could check it. However, before she could waste time feeling ashamed, her reason rallied and prioritized coolly analyzing the situation.

There’s no longer any difference between my own temporal reference frame and that of my surroundings. In that case—how many seconds has it been since I began the attack? Or has it been minutes by now?

There are still power coils that I haven’t destroyed yet, and I have no idea just how many power coils I have to destroy for this weapon to stop—but if I want to be a hundred percent sure, I have to destroy them all—or else—everyone’ll—

“——ah——ah...aghhh.” Not even her vocalizer was working at this point—she was near her limit. However, with neither the time nor the luxury to worry or hesitate, AnchoR crept along the floor towards the heat sources that were the remaining power coils.

Though it should be rather obvious—this was the first time that AnchoR had ever used Still Weight—a maneuver of demise. It was something that allowed her to fight with force to spare even when she had nearly zero power left. When push came to shove—it was literally her last resort.

—There was no way to actually know how many seconds she could stay in that mode upon activation. However, her understanding as a combat unit was telling her that despite it all, the current state of affairs was still preferable to the alternative.

That by operating in the Thirteenth Wheel, she had been able to do 18.2 times the damage she would have been able to otherwise. And that had she stayed at the Twelfth Wheel—she would have run out of power after only destroying the outer plating of the weapon.

However, AnchoR’s heart fiercely howled— None of that matters! ...If I can’t even destroy something like this... then... why, was I, even—ngh!! She swung her fist as she lamented and felt her remaining arm being crushed. But in return, everything in her sight followed suit.

—This isn’t good enough! Even though you made respecting my free will the requirement for my Master Confirmation, if you didn’t even make me strong enough to protect those who would try to give it to me—then why, did you... e,ven... make... me?!

—Tell, me... why...

AnchoR cursed her own creator as she continued to advance, even as the voice inside her heart screamed. She had lost both her arms at this point. Her left leg had melted and her remaining right leg was straggling. The total number of nuclear power reactors she had destroyed—was 1,008.

......just... twenty-five... more...

—It was impossible. With all the power she had expended during Still Weight, opening up her armory now would be difficult.

Even if she could produce a weapon from her armory—she had no arms left to wield it with.

Nearly all her sensory mechanisms were malfunctioning— As noise mixed in with her distorted sight——?! —Her infrared sensors that had barely survived her rampage picked up a massive heat source...

She was certain that she had just seen a clump of concentrated heat in an area around two hundred meters from where she was. Her mind quickly abandoned its despair as it reverted to a stoic, calculating, weapon.

Assuming that the main cannon of this weapon fires by concentrating the energy generated by the coils in one place... If I destroy that concentrated heat source, I’ll definitely at least be able to stop it from firing—!

—Brea, k!! AnchoR prayed through clenched teeth as she mercilessly pumped the full output of her Perpetual Gear under the Thirteenth Wheel into her half-broken right leg. She didn’t worry about her landing. Like a cannonball, the only thing on her mind was breaking through the wall before her.

As she launched herself—AnchoR realized something. The heat source in her sight had become completely still. In other words—her personal frame of time was expanding again as it pulled away from its surroundings once more.

—This will probably be the last thing I ever do, she thought as she let out a smile. With her remaining right leg, AnchoR accelerated through the gap in time.

—Her broken body flared up from the friction against space itself. Confirming that her body temperature had risen once again—she felt relieved. —I was able to accelerate. Even after all I’ve put my body through, it’s still listening to me.

...This last spurt of hers was surely like how the light from a candle will conspicuously flicker before it burns out...

Her remaining right foot melted off from the impact of kicking a hole through spacetime, but her expanded consciousness perceived the wall as strangely far away somehow—as she collided with it.

Just like a cannonball indeed, AnchoR pierced right through the wall with her scorching heat and into the block behind it. However, she then became disoriented and lost control over her speed, as she helplessly crashed into the wall on the other end of the room.

Like a puppet that had had its strings cut, she dropped to the floor with enough force to bounce back up a little, but ultimately, her body fell prone...

Even so— Not... yet... Even after losing all her limbs, AnchoR still continued to function. Creaks sounded as she stiffly raised her neck to look at what was around her.

—She was inside a small hall that was reminiscent of a temple or a church. In the middle of this area buried in gears of various shapes and sizes, the floor bulged up greatly, forming a dome.

What was enshrined there was an enormous crystal cylinder made up of countless shafts, bearings, and spheres—its glass coils tracing a spiral that had the god of lightning imprisoned inside.

...If, I... destroy, that...

Rallying all of her remaining will, AnchoR began to move. She inched her way forward by jerking her torso pitifully like a slug.

—It hurts. It hurts it hurts it hurtshurtshurtshurtshurts—

As her thoughts were scrambled by the pain coming from her broken sensory mechanisms, anguish jarred her entire body. In agony, her mind came to focus on a single question:

Why does an automaton like me—one made for combat no less—need a sense of pain...?

And just as she asked herself that unhelpful question—

—A shock ran through AnchoR’s entire body as a hole bore through her.

“...How unsightly. To think that you’re supposed to be one of ‘Y’’s masterpieces, have you no shame?” The voice of an old man sounded from above her head.

It’s Gennai Hirayama— She recognized with her hazy consciousness. However, at this point, she couldn’t even turn to face him with her near-ruined body.

“Or is it that... surprisingly enough, electromagnetic technology works on ‘Y’’s dolls as well?”

I can’t move.

I can’t move can’t move can’t move, (error), (hang-up), (error), (error), (error—)

“Hmm. That might just be the case, considering that you couldn’t make it in time—I’ve already finished inputting the command to fire the main cannon.”

(———Error.)

“It’ll fire momentarily— It’s your group’s loss.”

“———”

Gennai looked down at the legacy of “Y” convulsing on the ground. “Now then... if you would excuse my cliché, I figured that something like this might happen, so—”

As he spoke, he held up the pistol in his right hand. It was not a regular mechanical gun; it was equipped with electrodes.

“This is a portable railgun that I prepared for you legacies of ‘Y.’ ...I never thought it would actually be effective though. I suppose this just goes to show that it’s always a good idea to at least try and prepare what one can.”

With that, Gennai took aim as AnchoR continued to spasm. The muzzle of his portable railgun was pointed right at her head.

—Pwoosh. The bullet accelerated forward at hypersonic speed—leaving its sound behind in its wake.

●

“Linkage complete! Marie!”

“I’m done here too! Everyone, prepare to evacuate! We’re going to activate the bypass!”

—At seventy-three minutes and fifty-two seconds, Naoto and Marie finished seizing control of a grid that neighbored Akihabara.

It wasn’t the work of gods, but the work of man that transcended human limits. They had managed to put together a new bypass in this short amount of time in spite of the Pillar of Heaven having already been so heavily damaged.

Even if a detailed schematic was available for reference, just grasping its structure would surely have taken a normal clocksmith more than a week. But even so—the time limit had simply been too merciless.

“Ain’t no need for preparations! Our only option’s to show our pursuers our fine asses and jump down that hole! Hell, wanna say hi on the way out? They’ve just dropped by to throw us a going away party!” Vermouth yelled sarcastically. As he spoke, he sprayed a volley of bullets over the barricade.

Before him were older models of mobile weapons and various other armaments that the military had gotten their hands on. They’d been closing in on him in waves.

Houko spoke like she wasn’t really expecting anything of them—but it seems like there’re still some soldiers with a backbone in the remnants of Tokyo’s military after all. Marie thought.

They were a mishmash of imperial guards and units from other grids that had rushed over. They hadn’t even been properly rallied when they had come charging in, when it had been fifty-minutes since Naoto and Marie began work on the new bypass.

Normally, sending your forces into battle one after the another in waves is a huge mistake, but— Because RyuZU and AnchoR were absent, it had been a tough fight to hold the position with just Vermouth in his cyborg body and Halter in the Black Tortoise.

Really, the two of them ought to be praised for having successfully held the dogged intruders back up till now. However, Naoto was—actually, all of them were feeling apprehensive.

It was already past the time limit—it was already two minutes past the earliest possible time that Naoto had determined the main cannon of the enormous weapon could refire...

—Indeed, it should now be the “earliest” possible time, this was what Naoto had speculated with his ears, after all. It could be that the cannon would take more than eighty minutes to recharge itself—but it was just as likely that it would fire at any moment now.

But, there was something that made Naoto even more anxious than that— “Damn it—AnchoR, RyuZU... I’m begging you guys, please be safe...”

It was possible that the reason the main cannon hadn’t fired was thanks to AnchoR or RyuZU’s sacrifice—perhaps both of them had laid down their lives, Naoto had no way of knowing. The only thing I can do is pray that this two-minute delay doesn’t turn out to be the most expensive two minutes of my life...

Meanwhile, Marie had been rushing to finish the final adjustments. As she continued to do so, she yelled to Houko, “Listen! I’m gonna raise the temperature of Akihabara Grid’s base to 2,000 degrees Celsius and the immediate area of that weapon to thirty thousand degrees alright?!”

—Am I insane? Her own words scared her more than anything. But to be honest, even a temperature like that still feels questionable as to whether it would actually be enough to destroy that enormous weapon— Shaking her head, Marie dispelled her doubts.

“—The temperature-regulating mechanisms around the enormous weapon have already been put on standby, so it’ll only take a moment for them to release their heat, but— It’ll take about thirty seconds to transfer enough heat to Akihabara Grid’s mechanisms to demagnetize them! Houko, after thirty seconds have passed use this console to stop the process. With that, the bypass will be discarded and the temperature will begin dropping back down.”

“Yes—I understand.” Houko nodded.

“Oy, Marie! You’re still not done?! Hurry the hell up!” Naoto yelled impatiently.

“I know! I’m starting it right now—” Marie yelled back, but just as she was about to press enter—She wavered.

It’s true—I’ve felt it—the feeling of knowing something I shouldn’t be able to know. I cannot deny seeing something I that shouldn’t have been able to see.

...I had accepted that I wasn’t a born genius, so I resolved to become one anyway. However, despite my success; no, precisely because of it—I’m still merely human.

...And yet, right now, my finger is resting on a button that if pressed, might lead to the destruction of the world...

...Is this really gonna be alright? Could I have made a mistake somewhere? Was I presumptuous in thinking that I could pull this off?

This is the first time I have ever taken on a job like this one. I had to rely solely on my intuition. The mechanisms of this tower were like no other I’ve seen.

We haven’t even tested it—hell, it’s more likely that something like this will fail than work.

And yet—am I really going to press this button? If this goes wrong, Tokyo will go down and with it the entire country.

Down the line, it’ll inflict fatal damage to the planet itself.

I could end up being the greatest mass-murderer in all of history—that’s the kind of weight my fingertip is resting on.

Marie’s teeth clattered. Her fingertips went numb. Her brain was scorched by nervous excitement. She couldn’t collect her thoughts. It was so bad that she felt like she might faint at any moment.

—There shouldn’t have been any mistakes. It should be fine. No matter how forcefully she tried to make herself believe that, the fearful doubt wouldn’t leave her mind once it made its way in.

Then, a question suddenly popped up in her head.

—What made the ones executing this coup d’état pull the trigger on enacting their plan? What could it have been that thrust them toward taking such a precarious action, one that could destroy the entire world?

“...Oy Marie, hurry up. What are you squirming for... Ah, need to pee?”

—Ah... so that’s it.

“This is the second time you’ve shown disregard for your life. I swear I’m gonna beat you to death after this—grrrr!!”

—It was anger.

Marie furiously smashed the enter key with her fist, and, at that moment—the Pillar of Heaven rumbled as if it were deeply groaning. Marie stood up, no longer caring to worry over whether they had succeeded.

This should work. Akihabara Grid should be able to withstand the heat. At the very least, this is how “Y” solved the problem of magnetized mechanisms—those two automata prove that. In that case, this should be fine! If it’s good enough for “Y,” then it’s good enough for me!

Turning around, Marie found Naoto playing with the computer in merry spirits. “Alright—! Well then, y’all’re bein’ a bit of a nuisance so back off a bit ’kay ♪”

Tap. A brisk, satisfying keystroke was heard. Immediately after, the atmosphere beyond the barricade bellowed, jolting everything around it with the force of an explosion.

The tempestuous, raging wind floored the units of Tokyo’s military as it vortexed into a localized whirlwind inside the passageway, causing the walls to shake and rumble as it blasted against the wall.

—It was an ultra-small, limited version of a downburst.

Then, another tap sounded.

“Everyone! We’re gonna escape—through the hole in the floor—woah!!” At that moment, a fierce updraft gushed up through the giant hole in the floor.

Seeing that violent wind, Halter said, “...Oy Naoto. How’re we gonna escape... through the hole in the floor again?”

“We’re gonna jump, of course.”

“Do we have parachutes?”

“Nope—that’s why I generated that wind.” As Naoto stood at the edge of the abyss, he measured the updraft blowing through. “If we free fall from here, we should be able to ride the wind and descend all the way down—probably.”

“...Probably?”

“We’ll be fine, relax. It’s all about your attitude. Don’t give up hope, old man.”

“...Seriously? I mean, I guess I should have asked how we were gonna retreat beforehand, but—still, you’ve gotta be joking,” Halter groaned. If he were in his original artificial body, he would surely have slapped his hand onto his bald head and started rubbing it in exasperation.

It was about sixty kilometers from here to the ground. Not even Vermouth and Halter could possibly land unscathed with their mechanical bodies, much less Naoto and Marie with their bodies of flesh. However, Vermouth lightly patted Halter’s unit before leaping through the air.

“Well, I’ll be going ahead! GeronimoOoooOOooOOOoooOooooOo——!!”

The pitch of his yelling voice bent downwards due to the Doppler Effect as Halter’s visual sensors clearly captured the powerful updraft breaking Vermouth’s fall. He was descending towards the ground as if he were gliding on the wind.

Similarly, Naoto had been listening carefully to hear Vermouth’s descent. “Great, looks like it works. A’ight then, I’m up next! I. Can. Flyyyyyyy!!”

Watching Naoto go, Halter followed, seeming to have resigned himself. With an internal sigh, he leapt into the center of the wind tunnel.

The last one remaining, Marie, turned towards her dear friend. “Well then—I’ll leave the rest to you, Houko.”

“—Right. Rest assured, I will frame you guys as the most heinous criminals on Earth,” Houko answered with a smile.

—This is probably our final farewell, Marie thought. She’s the princess of a country and I’m a nefarious terrorist—there’ll be no way for us to directly meet ever again.

From now on, the two of us will forever walk parallel paths from each other. I don’t regret my decision, but I do feel a little— Just as Marie’s expression turned cloudy, Houko held up her left hand for Marie to see. On her wrist was a silver watch...

“——”

Marie smiled and began her charge. As she passed Houko, who was still holding up her left hand, Marie loudly slapped the palm of her dear friend with her own—as she leapt into the air and down the hole.

It was right after that, that the military broke through the barricade and charged inside.

●

“Wha—” Gennai let out a short cry of astonishment. The bullet that had been accelerated to hypersonic speed by electricity—had been stopped dead in its tracks. Two sharp scythes had caught the bullet.

“Obeying orders faithfully is the duty of a follower—”

The girl in a formal black dress announced singingly, black scythes flashing as she spoke. Immediately after—Gennai’s right hand, the one that had been holding the gun, was severed.

“...but never the less, looking after one’s younger sister so that she doesn’t push herself too hard is the duty of an elder sister,” —RyuZU said as she gracefully curtsied.

Gennai’s twisted face laid bare his amazement. In single moment, he had lost a hand. His expression was not due to pain. “—Impossible... Why didn’t it fire—?!” Gennai violently yelled, the hatred apparent on his face.

“Because the scheduled firing of the main cannon never went through,” RyuZU answered with a smile. “—I came after my younger sister through the new entrance she opened up—and along the way, I destroyed, I think, around eighteen power coils.

“Judging from how unsightly your face appears right now—truly an expression fully worthy of being displayed in a museum with the title of ‘The Fool,’ it appears that my actions have undoubtedly thrown a wrench in your plans—just knowing that puts me above cloud nine.”

“...Big... Sis... Wh...y,” AnchoR called out in a feeble, distorted voice.

Lowering her gaze, RyuZU found AnchoR perforated and limbless, and knit her brows at the sight. She then exhaled—and swung one of her scythes with a swish.

Bam! The back of the black scythe pounded AnchoR’s head once. Immediately after, AnchoR stopped melting away as her body returned to the eternal dream of a young girl.

“......it hurts... Wah...Big, Sis... hit me...” AnchoR tearfully cried as she writhed with her beaten up body and sobbed.

AnchoR hadn’t noticed her own transformation. She hadn’t noticed that RyuZU’s black scythe had severed The Thirteenth Balance Wheel of Differences that had been linked to her Perpetual Gear, either.

RyuZU had forcefully disengaged her Still Weight mode— And, if RyuZU’s aim had been just a little off, AnchoR would have ceased to operate for all eternity.

So as not to let her younger sister realize the dangerous bridge that she had just crossed, RyuZU coolly replied, “—I do believe I said that I would punish you if you did not intend to come back, yes?”

“Ah......augh....uuuu...” AnchoR meekly moaned, looking guilty.

RyuZU sweetly smiled upon seeing that, but immediately returned to a serious expression.

Wheezing while holding his bleeding wrist, Gennai groaned, “...So I couldn’t win in the end huh...ngh...”

“Against whom? You have not lost to anyone.” A glint of scorn surfaced in RyuZU’s topaz eyes as she gracefully, but sardonically, curtsied. “If you think that a loser who had defeated himself from the very beginning ever had a chance against Master Naoto... My, I fear that such a grave delusion would be enough to tempt me to downsize you until you are a little more portable.”

She paused for a breath. “—Normally, I would have activated Mute Scream to chase after AnchoR, but in this case, there were two reasons why I could not do so. And because of this, I have ended up in the predicament of having to suffer your vulgar gaze, for which I very much expect your deepest apology.”

Gennai remained still, as if he couldn’t move. However, RyuZU paid that no mind as she crouched down by AnchoR’s side.

“The first reason is that I would not have been able to bring AnchoR back.”

Once AnchoR is in Still Weight, not even RyuZU’s Mute Scream can catch up to her. However, as AnchoR continued to disintegrate, her speed gradually dropped. If at that time, RyuZU were to touch AnchoR from within Mute Scream, she could have ended up destroying AnchoR from the force of objects in different axes of time colliding with one another.

As such, though she wasn’t showing it on her face—RyuZU had chased after AnchoR at full force immediately after she had begun her decent. Though she had headed straight after her younger sister—it still took her quite a bit of time to catch up.

“—And,” RyuZU continued, “the second reason is that I simply could not bring myself to be so merciful as to let you die without you even realizing it ♪.” As RyuZU broke into a wide grin, she sensed a change in the atmosphere. The ambient temperature was rapidly rising. “—It looks like your hard work paid off, AnchoR.”

“...huh...?”

RyuZU smiled. So you have not realized it yet. Because of you, Master Naoto and the rest were not only able to survive—but to succeed. You should ask Master Naoto for lots of praise later.

Having kept that thought to herself, RyuZU once more turned to face Gennai. “Now then... Mr. Clanky Old Bones. If possible, I would love nothing more than to literally stuff you inside this crucible and savor the sight as your flesh burns, your blood boils, and your eyes burst, until I reach my own thermal limits, but—”

RyuZU paused as she held AnchoR up in her arms. “Though it could not be further from my own inclinations, Master Naoto has decided that murder is bad for AnchoR’s upbringing. Further still, there is also a certain girl who has asked for the authority over your life and death.”

Punctuating that statement, RyuZU’s black scythes dashed forward. In a flash, all the weapons and devices that were on Gennai’s person were minced to shreds. Finishing, the back of the black scythe warped like a whip before bashing the back of Gennai’s head.

“...ngh?!” As Gennai fainted before he could even react, RyuZU deftly hoisted him up with her scythes.

“...I will have to clean these later... Even though I had taken as much precaution as I could by cutting off his hand as quickly as possible... they have still been sullied by a faint amount of his blood, skin, and oils... Well, at the very least he will not be squirming about now. That would feel even grosser,” RyuZU said to herself as she turned around.

Holding AnchoR gently in her arms and suspending the old man with her scythe, she retraced her steps at full speed.

“Oh, and in the case that I do not make it out fast enough, and you end up dying a horrible death by flames, please be understanding. Accidents happen, yes?”

And so, just a few seconds after RyuZU and her passengers left the area— A sun was formed in the center of Akihabara Grid.

Reaching two thousand degrees Celsius around its perimeter—and thirty thousand at its center, immense heat engulfed the enormous weapon along with the rest of Akihabara Grid. As the ground burned away, the magnetic charge present in all the clockwork in the grid was shorn away by flame.