Chapter 7: Then the Door Opens

She was drifting in total darkness. Her consciousness wafted softly. It was an eerie sensation to float on a warm, black sea.

Who am I?

She was aware of herself. But she didn’t know who she was. A philosopher said the innermost self knows, “I think, therefore I am.” Right now, all she had was that uncomplicated ego. She had once been known as Sven, but she had lost all such memories.

I... I... Me...

She could question herself, but she couldn’t answer. She didn’t know where she came from, where she was going, or who she was.

“So we meet again.”

She heard a voice in the darkness. She had heard it somewhere before, but that might be her imagination.

“It isn’t your imagination. We have talked like this before.”

The voice sounded a little disappointed.

“Oh, I see. You’ve forgotten everything. That’s why you don’t know.”

The voice now had an edge of mirth.

“What will be taken from you? You have been entrusted with everything.”

She hadn’t the slightest idea what the voice was talking about. She didn’t know, but something bothered her.

“Everything is right in front of you,” the voice said.

Then a light appeared. It was an immensely reassuring light, with a shine that awakened fond feelings.

“Just like I told your ancestor, everything is yours. No one can take it away from you. So...”

The light entered her.

“You may do whatever you like according to the dictates of your heart.”

The light entered her, but now it shone brighter than before. No. She was shining. The glow expanded and drove away the darkness.

“... HUFF... HUFF... HUFF...”

“You’ve sent quite a thrill down my spine!”

Lud was breathing heavily. In a cold sweat, Genitz smiled fearlessly. It had been only minutes, ten at most, since they had started this fight to kill or be killed. However, in this intense exchange of ongoing attack and defense, a loss of focus for a moment could mean death.

“Lud, it’s still not too late. Come back to me.”

“Don’t be ridiculous!”

“I’m serious.”

Genitz estimated it would take another ten years to achieve his goal. If Lud joined him, however, it would take half that.

“Come with me! Together, we can rule the world!”

“I refuse!”

Again, Lud and Genitz pointed their guns at each other. Both prepared to shoot, but Lud got the drop.

“Uagh!!”

Lud’s shot sent Genitz’s Walther 38 flying.

“That’s it, Genitz,” Lud said quietly.

Genitz thought it was a pity to destroy Lud, even though he was trying to do just that. That difference in their feelings toward each other had created an imbalance in the final moments.

How ironic. Genitz, who had manipulated others like chessmen, had lost the game because he had doubts about taking his opponent’s life.

“Are you going to kill me?”

“Yes.”

Lud’s Walther PPK had one bullet left. If it hit, it would kill.

“Do you understand what that means? It will be the end of everything—even of you and me.”

“Yes.”

Lud had sworn not to kill because of his principles and beliefs, but also from fear. If he burdened himself with a murder, he could never again bake anything that would make people smile. He could never go back to being the owner of Tockerbrot.

“I know.”

Quietly, Lud pulled the trigger so he could end this whole affair. A gunshot rang out.

“What...?”

Lud spluttered in astonishment.

“I can’t let you do that.”

Someone had suddenly grabbed Lud’s arm, and forced it up. The bullet missed Genitz and struck the ceiling.

“Why?! No!”

Lud’s voice was shaking. The one who had diverted the shot was Sven, the girl with silver hair and red eyes.

“Wa ha ha ha!”

Genitz guffawed. The reset code was supposed to have erased Sven’s memory. However, she had awoken and immediately protected Genitz.

“It seems I am, at the last moment, victorious.”

Sven hadn’t lost her memory. The reset code had failed. Lud thought that must be the explanation.

“You shouldn’t do that, Master.”

However, Lud was wrong.

“Someone who makes food for a living loses the right to do so if he kills someone... Wasn’t it you who told me that?”

Sven smiled. It was a smile for her beloved, the one to whom she had sworn to dedicate her body and mind. She had been speaking to Lud.

“Sven... you came back?”

Lud’s voice was shaky.

“Yes! I... Sven... am always just for you in body and soul!”

A miracle had occurred. However, it hadn’t happened to either Genitz or Lud. Sven had used her own strength to achieve this miracle.

Meanwhile, inside the royal palace in Berun...

“Ugh! What is this? How many times do I have to send her flying before she stops?!”

“That’s what I’d like to know! How many times do I have to shoot before she stops?!”

Suzuka and Sophia appeared united in fighting the third body. Suzuka threw her, and Sophia shot her. Their attacks would have killed a human being a hundred times by now, but the third body never stopped.

“Eliminate... Annihilate... Eliminate... Annihilate...”

The third body repeated those words like a ghost as she attacked.

But she had taken some damage. Her arm and leg joints were creaking. Her neck was unstable. And her eyes were vacant, making her look even spookier.

“Weren’t you just talking tough? Do something! Did you run out of magic or something?”

As soon as Suzuka arrived, she had boasted to their opponent, saying things like, “Don’t underestimate human strength!” and “Just serve tea!” But the exceptional toughness... the durability of a humanoid Hunter Unit was beyond imagination.

“Stop complaining! Why don’t you handle this? You people from Europea bug me!”

“What?! Now you’ve done it, you twit!!”

The two began quarreling with each other.

“Young ladies shouldn’t use such vulgar speech.”

A man with silly sorcerer-like steps and a relaxed tone of voice arrived.

“You... I knew it! You’re alive?!”

Sophia’s voice shook.

“Of course. I couldn’t die and leave my beloved Sophia!”

Daian Fortuner, answered playfully.

“Intruder... Enemy... Eliminate... Annihilate...”

After seeing Daian, the third body approached to defeat the new enemy.

“Order 0098UIO7JSO618219.”

Before it came close, Daian used the emergency control code.

“Stop.”

“—”

And that was all it took to stop and shut down the third body. The light disappeared from her eyes and she collapsed. She looked like a discarded doll.

“Did you know that one object of my research was the creation of an immortal soldier?”

The development of humanoid Hunter Units was secret, so this was the official reason for Daian’s work.

“She was a prototype.”

Earlier, Daian had told Rebecca that she and Sven were the only humanoid Hunter Units. It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the whole truth either.

“She was defective. She doesn’t even have a name.”

On the way to creating Sven and Rebecca, Daian had generated lots of failures. But one hadn’t been a total loss. She was far from his goal of creating a cyborg, but she was a well-constructed puppet that obeyed orders.

“Her speed and strength were considerable, but no more. She was a movable mannequin.”

Nonetheless, the royal palace had asked to borrow her as a guard for important people. The request had come specifically from the royal sage Hanussen.

Typically, the prototype would wear an attendant’s uniform and position herself beside the monarch. And, if necessary, she would sacrifice herself to protect him. Sensing unusual activity by the Schutzstaffel, Daian had expected his creation to be useful in an emergency, but Genitz had learned about her and taken her instead. Genitz knew about the emergency control code because Daian had revealed it in case the prototype ever went out of control.

“Sophia, what do you think of her?” Daian asked.

He pointed at the prototype lying on the ground.

“I think it’s well-sculpted. She looked utterly human and yet... not at all.”

Daian had decided the prototype was a failure because it didn’t have the “heart” necessary for developing a personality. Even if well made, there was no point if she couldn’t desire someone or understand what that meant.

“This isn’t what I want a human being to be. A person shouldn’t have her heart controlled through a string of meaningless numbers and letters.”

Both the emergency control code and reset code had been established during manufacture. Although Hunter Units were created in the form of mechanical dolls, if they developed a heart, they would become human and those codes would be useless.

“I wonder what happened to Sven...”

“Umf!”

“Hoomph?!”

Daian’s tone was uncharacteristically serious and emotional, but Sophia interrupted by slapping his face.

“I can touch him... He’s not a ghost?!”

“S-Sophia... Could you be a little gentler, please?”

“Why are you still alive?!”

Daian had protected Sophia and taken a bullet during the attack on the development bureau.

“Well... fact is, this cape is made of a new material, a quality product of the development bureau. It’s an excellent item—bullet, blade and poison proof!”

He proudly flourished the high-density cape impervious to penetration by the 9-millimeter slugs of a Walther P38.

“I pretended to be dead, then hid among the corpses and escaped to the Yamato embassy. I could have sought asylum alone, but my conscience wouldn’t allow it.”

“Umf!”

“Ahooff!!”

Sophia interrupted again, punching him in the stomach this time.

“You should’ve told me sooner that you were alive!!”

“Unnngh...”

“I thought you were dead! Grarrr!”

Sophia had always detested Daian. She had detested him, but he had protected her, so she was in shock. She wished she had been a little nicer. Regret brought tears to her eyes.

“That’s why I hate you!”

In embarrassment, she couldn’t help walloping him.

“Unnngh...” Daian was doubled over, moaning.

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic!”

“You don’t understand, Sophia! This cape is bullet proof, but it still transfers the force of impact!”

Bullets wouldn’t penetrate, but Daian’s ribs had fractured as if hit by an iron ball.

“Oh... S-Sorry.”

While he would survive her beating, Sophia realized he definitely wasn’t laughing, so she rushed to his side.

“That’s all right. You’re even cute when you’re violent!”

“D-Don’t say such ridiculous things!”

Sophia spoke back firmly, but her face was faintly blushing.

“Okay, enough of this talk! It’s as sweet as an Erdbeere (strawberry)!”

Suzuka threw cold water on their conversation.

“Oh... Suzuka? Good work. I’ll give you a functional humanoid Hunter Unit just like I promised. You can take that one.”

Daian pointed at the third body, the prototype lying on the floor.

“It functions well enough. But I guess you tested it already.”

In return for borrowing Suzuka, the Ultimate Ambassadorial Weapon, Daian had promised Yamato a humanoid Hunter Unit. Now he was honoring that pledge.

“Hmm... That’s fine, but it doesn’t look like we can settle this matter peacefully yet.”

Suzuka was staring at the sudden appearance of many Schutzstaffel soldiers.

“Uh-oh...”

Ten... twenty... And the number was rising.

There were over fifty of them, and they were all pointing guns.

“You’ve done it now, you brats!”

It wasn’t only soldiers. The old men in the Council of Nobles were standing before them and trembling with rage.

“That’s Count Palatine Wittels and many others I’ve seen before.”

As a daughter of the Rundstadt family, Sophia had grown up with connections to society. The nobles clung to their useless pride, and Sophia hated that.

“Wiltia was to be reborn! It would return to the great old times of respect for tradition and order! But you riffraff stand in the way!”

Faced with these ranting old men, Sophia felt only exhaustion.

Good old times? What were they talking about? Unable to face the present, they had escaped into memory and illusion. This was nonsense from people who had never reflected on themselves.

“Guys like this were helping Genitz?”

Sophia remembered her subordinates who died in the attack on the development bureau. She saw the face of Private Sariya, who had smiled brightly despite the burden of her difficult past.

“Do you understand how many soldiers died because of your stupid ideas?!”

“Silence, girl! You should have obeyed us without question!”

“What?!”

Beyond angry, Sophia was stunned into silence.

These old men wouldn’t recognize anything other than what they thought was right. They never tried to understand what they didn’t already know.

“Sophia, that’s enough. You’re wasting your time.”

Daian spoke as if consoling Sophia.

“It’s useless to ask these old fogeys to understand.”

“What did you say, child?!”

Wittels yelled, but Daian’s face remained cool.

“That’s why Genitz abandoned you guys.”

Since suppression of the royal capital had failed and the king had branded the Schutzstaffel as rebels, they should have left the capital immediately. However, it would have been difficult for all of them to escape.

Genitz had left them behind. The regular military, which was now subduing rebels, would focus its attention here.

“No way... He abandoned us?!”

“See? They didn’t know. Just how brain-dead are they?”

Daian looked at the panicking elders of the Council of Nobles as if studying irredeemable nincompoops.

“W-Well then, we shall seize you as hostages!”

“Indeed! We shall establish an independent region within Windia! For we are on the side of right!”

Windia was the site of the Holy Empire’s capital. It was an old city with a long history. The old men began to direct the soldiers, but another man appeared.

“That’s enough. Call it off.”

It was Marshal Elvin of the regular military.

“Elvin?! What are you doing here?!” Wittels shouted.

Elvin was supposed to be confined to the military command office in the royal palace.

“The guards there surrendered long ago. And they begged my forgiveness.”

The Schutzstaffel was considered an elite unit. However, only ten percent of its soldiers were from the nobility. Most were from the common folk, like the soldiers who scarfed down the potato bread that Jacob and Milly handed out.

“No one wants to fight after being labeled a rebel army.”

“Drat those commoners!” Wittels spat in frustration.

“Hey, I’m from a common background, too.”

“Silence! In the old times, someone from the lower classes like you could never stand atop the military... Aha!”

The old man with bloodshot eyes made a face as if he had hit on a good idea.

“You... If I take you hostage, the regular military wouldn’t dare make a move!”

“You’re lower than ever.”

Elvin answered exasperatedly.

“Don’t you understand why I’m here?”

“No, why?!”

“Because it’s all over.”

After this pronouncement, Elvin raised his right hand. He was holding a small object with a red flashing light.

“Oh... I made that!”

“Yes, Dr. Daian. It’s most useful.”

It was a quality product of the Royal Weapons Development Bureau: a compact transmitter. It would transmit their location within a radius of one kilometer. Just then they heard something piercing the sky. It wasn’t a cannon ball. But it was huge...

“W-What?!”

Giants... No, Hunter Units with parachutes were descending all around the royal palace.

“H-How can this be? Hunter Units?!”

With an exasperated voice, Elvin answered the confused Wittels.

“Hunter Units were originally for deployment in surprise attacks.”

The Schutzstaffel had believed that even if the monarch declared them to be rebels, it would take time for the regular military to invade the royal palace.

“No way... Oh, I get it!” Sophia cried out.

Ever since Lud told her about the monarch’s speech over the radio, Sophia had been wondering something. Twelve Comm’s range of transmission was about one kilometer. So it wasn’t capable of broadcasting outside the royal capital. And the Schutzstaffel had seized all relay stations. But which relay station could transmit waves throughout Wiltia?

“It was from above...”

“You got it.”

Elvin smiled as he stood by the window and pointed at the sky. A giant airship was gaining altitude.

“The Defairedead!”

Sophia had a past connection to the airship.

A range of one kilometer was too small when transmitting waves laterally. However, they could also transmit one thousand meters into the sky.

“The Defairedead was constructed for use as an air fortress, so it contains communications equipment. For the airship, it would be a piece of cake to broadcast an imperial ordinance from the monarch anywhere it wanted.”

And its huge hangar could hold many Hunter Units and drop them from the sky above the royal palace.

“Do you finally get it? What’s most decisive in war is the situation beforehand. Only the lowest amateurs would act in a rush without thought at the last minute.”

Elvin had shown himself to them... only because he was certain of his force’s absolute victory.

“Y-You...!”

Wittels still couldn’t admit that his faction had lost. He snatched a gun from a soldier.

“You still don’t get it?!”

Just as Elvin’s shouted, a Hunter Unit landed next to him. It broke through the wall brandishing a rifle bigger than a tank cannon and aimed it at the Council of Nobles and the Schutzstaffel soldiers.

“Marshal, are you all right?!”

The pilot’s voice came from the external speaker of the Hunter Unit, and Elvin answered with the wave of a hand.

“Yeah. Good timing!”

Fifty soldiers simply weren’t enough to fight one Hunter Unit.

“I’ll tell you something for the last time, you fop.”

Elvin was addressing Wittels, who had sunk to the floor in astonishment.

“Don’t take professionals lightly.”

Elvin was a professional in war and a master schemer, so without Genitz, the Council of Nobles didn’t stand a chance of opposing him.

Back underground at the Weapons Development Bureau...

“I’m sorry, Master!!!”

Sven wept and shrieked bitterly, while begging incessantly for forgiveness.

“I can’t believe it of myself! For someone like me to allow her loyalty to be clouded even slightly is extraordinarily disrespectful and a dreadful mistake!!”

Although she had been under Genitz’s control, Sven couldn’t forgive herself for her many impudent actions toward Lud.

“Um... uh... it’s all right, Sven. Calm down.”

“But... but...!”

Finding himself in this familiar conversation after such a long time, Lud’s face was troubled but wistful.

“Ha ha ha...”

Genitz laughed at the sight.

“What’s so funny, you scoundrel?!”

“It’s funny to watch you two!”

Genitz had lost, but had recovered enough to make sarcastic remarks.

“Langart... you aren’t going to kill me?”

“No. Because I’m a baker. And a baker’s job isn’t dealing death.”

Genitz smirked.

“You’re such a softie.”

Then he removed something from his pocket.

“Master, stay back!”

Alarmed, Sven thought Genitz was hiding a weapon, so she stood in front of Lud.

“What is that?”

“What do you think?”

Lud saw a wireless transmitter in Genitz’s hand.

“That guy Daian is a genius. He made it almost impossible to conquer the development bureau. But after we took it over, we found this—and then I was doubly sure he’s a genius!”

“Surely, that’s not...”

“Yes, it’s the trigger for a bomb. It was just invented by the development bureau.”

This underground level, where the Door was located, was deep below the development bureau.

“If a bomb explodes overhead, the ground will crumble and bury us all alive.”

“I keep my best cards for the very end.”

“Would you blow yourself up just because you lost? Only petty underlings do that!”

“Yes. It’s embarrassing, so I didn’t want to. But I’m not just blowing myself up. This is much bigger than that.”

“What do you mean?”

This was a new type of bomb created by Daian Fortuner, the creator of the Hunter Units. There must be more to this than suicide.

“Is it something like a zeihombomber?”

A zeihombomber was a weapon of mass destruction that resonated with the high-energy ore known as rezanite. One barrel of it could reduce a town like Organbaelz to rubble.

“Heh... This isn’t just fireworks. This bomb has the power to recreate Lapchuricka in a moment!”

The slaughter of Lapchuricka was a massacre committed by Wiltian armed forces at Genitz’s command.

“Lapchuricka took a whole day with Hunter Units, heavy tanks, bombers and railway artillery. Isn’t the progress of science incredible? Now all I have to do is press this button!”

Currently, they were in a corner of Berun, also known as Million City. If a bomb of that scale exploded here... The scale of destruction would be unimaginable.

“What about your friends?! They’ll all die!”

But it was too late to do anything now. To escape, sound an alarm, or take any other action would be slower than Genitz pressing the button.

“What do you want?”

“Ah, now that’s cutting to the chase!”

Raising an eyebrow, Genitz answered Sven’s question.

Genitz never planned on dying with them. And Lud and Sven knew that. However, Jacob, Milly, Shylock, Sophia and countless other innocent people would die if he pressed the button. They couldn’t take such a dangerous gamble.

“I have only one request. I want you to open the Door.”

That was the original reason Genitz had taken Sven.

“You haven’t given up on that yet?!”

“Nope. I never give up.”

Genitz’s coup had failed and his back was against the wall, but this was his last hope of success.

“That’s enough, Genitz. I get the feeling the Door shouldn’t be opened.”

Lud had reservations about the Door. Why had the old empire created the Doors? Were they a gift to future generations? It was unlikely.

“Maybe it’s supposed to be sealed.”

“Yes, I couldn’t agree more.”

“—?!”

Surprisingly, Genitz’s face was calm. He hadn’t lost control of himself. His face said he was ready for martyrdom.

“Are you sure? Whatever happens, I won’t take the blame!”

“That’s fine.”

Slowly, Sven approached the Door. And Genitz followed.

“You wait there, Master.”

Still a few steps away, Sven told Lud to stop.

“.....................”

Sven placed her hand on the Door. She didn’t know the significance of this action. But she understood instinctively that this was the right way.

“Huh...?”

The rezanium reactor inside her was heating up. In response, the Door began shining a faint light.

“Oh...”

Genitz exclaimed at this mysterious sight.

A gap opened between the two halves of the massive Door. Slowly, they parted to the left and right.

“Hear me, Door! Heritage of an ancient empire! Grant me wisdom! Show me a way to save this world!”

Genitz raised his voice as if he were the humble servant to a god. However...

Oh no!

A chill ran down Sven’s back.

“Master! Close your eyes! Turn around and lie down!” Sven shouted.

They mustn’t stare at it. They shouldn’t even look at it. That was essential. From the other side of the Door, a multitude of eyes peered through the opening. And all of those eyes simultaneously fixed on Genitz.

At that moment, light poured out. It bathed every nook and cranny of the bureau’s lowest subterranean level. Sven thought she heard something. It could be the sound of wind, or it could be the ground shaking. However, it was also like a person’s voice. And she thought it was saying, “You idiot! Are you doing this again?!” A few moments later, she could see through her closed eyes that the light had faded.

“Master, it’s all right now!”

Lud opened his eyes and turned around. The Door was closed again.

“Where’s Genitz?”

Lud looked around. Genitz was nowhere to be seen. What remained was a pile of salt shaped like a man opening his arms as if receiving everything the other side of the Door had to bestow.

“It seems... he shouldn’t have opened the Door.”

Quietly, Sven simply acknowledged what she saw.

“Genitz, you...”

Lud had approached the chunk of salt on unsteady feet, but he was overcome with surprise and had to kneel. The vibration broke the salt statue. Maximillian Genitz died without leaving a trace.

“You idiot!!”

Lud hit the ground and shouted. His eyes were full of tears.

“A long time ago, he saved my life,” Lud gasped through his tears.

“When I first became a Werewolf, there was an error in my orders.”

The command to protect his comrades and kill the target had been switched around. Lud’s order instructed him to protect the enemy and kill his comrades. If he had thought about it even for a moment, he would have realized there was a mistake. However, Lud never doubted his instructions.

“I was taught never to question orders, only to carry them out, no matter what they were. So I did what it said.”

He had killed every last one of his comrades and let the enemy live.

“Superior officers took me into custody. They were going to dispose of me as a threat.”

“Dispose of”... not “punish” or “execute.”

They were about to end his life, as if getting rid of a dog or a defective tool.

“But then Genitz showed up. He protected me and insisted I wasn’t wrong. On the contrary, he said that I was an excellent soldier who had been loyal in following orders.”

From that time on, Lud had served directly under Genitz. He carried out his orders without hesitation or question. Genitz had been seeking someone like him. A man whose aim was to restore an ancient empire and become emperor needed a servant who wouldn’t call this task “ridiculous.”

However, was that the only reason? Did Genitz want Lud because he was an excellent tool? Or did he want a friend or companion who would walk that path with him?

“If he had just called me friend, I might have joined him.”

But now no one would ever know the truth. Because that man no longer existed.

“You idiot...”

No one lives completely alone. Someone will shed tears over the death of even the most despicable scumbag. Perhaps in future generations, the history of Wiltia will speak of the traitor Genitz as the epitome of a demon. Nonetheless, Lud mourned his death.