Omniscient First-Person’s Viewpoint - Ch. 300

I riffled through the deck of cards in my pocket.

In my hand were the remaining 8 cards from the club deck, excluding the Ace I used during the escape from Amitengrad and the 6 I just threw.

Carefully, I ran my fingers over the edges of the cards and selected one.

Though it hurts my pride, let’s admit it, no matter which card I use, I can’t deal any meaningful damage to Maximilien.

Maybe if I shoved the entire deck into his stomach and blew it up, I could kill him.

But if I could even get to that point, I would have already won.

Alright.

Let’s change the goal. What I need is to create a brief opening, no matter how small.

Fire? Useless.

Wind? Even if I make a fan with gears and blow it at him, I’d still lose.

Alchemy and deconstruction magic? He’s a much better alchemist than me.

Exploding the mana stored in the cards won’t work either.

I can’t challenge a specialist in their own field.

So, there’s only one option left.

I made my decision.

I slid one card out, and then another.

At the same time, I unfastened the fabric from my shoulders, wrapped it around my hand, and hid the cards to reduce his wariness, even by a little….

｢Another card? They definitely hold magic. The effects themselves aren’t too dangerous, but I’ll block his approach just in case.｣

Humans are creatures of learning.

After what happened earlier, Maximilien didn’t drop his guard at all.

And after knowing that I could use his Unique Magic, he no longer insisted on using gears.

He opted for methods that, while crude, were certainly effective.

He flattened a handful of gears and spread them thin.

He then used simple alchemy with the palm of his hand.

The small gears were sharpened, transforming into shurikens.

With his prosthetic arm, he stretched out his fingers and scratched the back of the Steel Beetle.

His five fingers split the steel cover vertically, like bamboo.

Maximilien then shaped the resulting long steel strands into a spear.

｢I’ve been avoiding blades until now to prevent you from dying, but now… I won’t hold back anymore.｣

The Director of the Military State’s Bureau of Arms Development used alchemy to create every weapon he could think of—shurikens, spears, blades.

Just one of them would be enough to kill me.

Maximilien hurled all of them and the remaining gears at me with all his might.

Each weapon flew through the air at incredible speed.

｢If you’re the Human King, you won’t die here. If you do, there’s nothing I can do about it. Otherwise, I’ll die!｣

Sharp gleams filled my vision.

It wasn’t something I could block or avoid.

Historia rushed to help me.

She grabbed my cloak with the intent to throw it away.

It was a reasonable approach.

But it wasn’t enough.

Just before Historia’s fingers touched me, I gave her an order.

“Move 8.”

The same move as before—switching positions while brushing past each other.

Historia reacted instinctively.

Without thinking, she leaped toward my back as we had prearranged.

I twisted my body to make way for her.

As if flipping a palm, Historia and I switched positions.

In an instant, a path opened between Historia and Maximilien.

At the same time, the steel weapons rained down on her.

Historia’s thoughts finally caught up.

｢If we switch positions like this, I’ll have to take all of those hits myself to save Huey. I can block them with Qi Deflection, but then…｣

She would lose her momentum, and her Qi would be drained, making it impossible to use the Consensus of Gun and Sword.

Any slim chance of victory would disappear.

There was only one way to win.

Historia gathered strength in the hand holding her gun.

Qi swirled around the impromptu bullet as she prepared her Explosive Discharge Domain.

Ignoring defense, she pooled all the Qi in her body into the gun.

The intensely condensed Qi expanded strangely…

Until it reached beyond the Axiom.

A slash made entirely from a bullet, an impossible paradox, was forcefully manifested into reality.

Just after Maximilien unleashed his weaponized gears, his defense was at its weakest.

As a natural-born warrior, Historia saw that gap.

She also realized why I had given the command for move Move 8.

｢So this is what you were aiming for, Huey? You’re really too much.｣

Without Qi, Historia’s body was merely a slightly tough woman’s.

If she were hit by those shurikens, the hastily made steel spears, and the blades split from metal plates, she would surely die.

But I had suggested she use Consensus of Gun and Sword, even using myself as bait.

Historia wasn’t thoughtless, but she wasn’t stupid either. She smiled faintly and whispered:

“I’ll do it anyway, Huey. But this is the last time, okay?”

｢…Probably, because there won’t be a next time.｣

No, there will be a next time.

What do you take me for?

I may not care about the means, but I do have some humanity.

There’s no reason for me to let you die here.

I need you alive to keep helping me in the future.

The card I drew was Eight of Clubs.

It was a simple compass magic.

In the Military State, kids were taught compass magic during military training seasons.

After all, to read a map, you at least need to know where north, south, east, and west are.

And here’s a fairly well-known fact, a compass is essentially a magnet.

The preparation was complete.

I poured all my mana into modifying it, far beyond its original purpose, to create a distorted magic.

“Compass Gauss!”

I released the stored mana.

The mana that shot out from Eight of Clubs was reminiscent of a vortex, though not quite the same.

It was hard to describe, but the shape where the beginning and end met was somewhat like a whirlpool.

It was like the shape of 8.

As it swirled and spread, the mana reached the Queen of Fabric, amplifying, spreading even more fiercely, and touching the steel.

｢Did you really think a spell of this scale could affect me?｣

Maximilien thought.

｢It won’t work. The Alchemic Steel I possess is all high-cost Grade 4 material or above. It has a natural resistance to enchantment magic. Magic won’t affect me unless you’re a stronger alchemist than I am, or you’ve reached the Axiom!｣

I know. Magic isn’t omnipotent.

It’s merely a force that accelerates changes already present in the world, and even that faces fierce resistance.

This alone won’t defeat Maximilien.

So I drew another card.

The Ten of Spades.

I stacked the two cards together.

***

Steel, which was once one with the earth, recalled an old longing.

It was a nostalgia that surfaced suddenly, like a dream from childhood, one that could only be remembered if it came to you.

If forgotten, it could never be recalled again.

The steel thrashed in desperation to grasp that faint longing.

It was the struggle of something that yearned for its other half, as though it had left a part of itself somewhere in the world.

And in the midst of that, “it” appeared like a gift.

Finally, it had been found.

Finally, it had been found.

Finally, it had been found.

All the steel that had discovered “it” changed their target. Instead of aiming to tear through the skin of a fragile beast, they twisted their direction to quench an insatiable thirst.

To become one with “it.”

***

The weapons flying toward Historia began to change direction all at once. Their speed increased, but they no longer posed a threat.

Thanks to that, Historia’s view cleared.

｢…I guess this isn’t the last time after all. Really, he’s toying with my emotions.｣

Historia didn’t see what I did. Even if she had, she wouldn’t have understood.

But the “how” doesn’t matter.

What matters is that I solved the problem.

And now it was Historia’s turn.

｢Since Huey gave it his all, I have to give it mine too. But… I’m still rather short.｣

Historia was frustrated.

She said she’d manage, but her Qi was running lower than expected.

It couldn’t be helped.

It was impossible to make precise judgments in extreme situations, especially when intoxicated by mana herbs.

Even if I had read her mind, it would have been useless if Historia’s judgment was impaired.

｢If I gather… If I collect it all and somehow concentrate it.｣

But Historia’s newly realized Li, Consensus of Gun and Sword, couldn’t be formed with ordinary Qi.

Her first Li, Zero In, ensures that the fourth bullet she shoots always hits its mark.

It was the Axiom Historia reached after endless training with her gun.

Her second Li, derived from her first Li, was the Consensus of Gun and Sword.

The “bullseye” expanded from a dot to a line.

It was an image Historia envisioned after analyzing the difference between Chun-aeng and a gun during her battle with the Regressor.

But to achieve that result, Historia had to swing her gun like a sword, and use several times more Qi.

Then Historia had a flash of insight.

｢Does it really have to be a line? What if I just focus on a single point?｣

Wait.

Wouldn’t that be the same as a bullet?

It’s no different from Zero In, or just shooting the gun!

I worked so hard to become the bait and clear the obstacles, and now you’re thinking of something so ridiculous!

**｢Maybe humans really do awaken in the face of death. What a good idea. Let’s try it immediately.｣**

Awaken? No, it’s the effect of stimulants!

This is why you can’t trust people on drugs!

But I can’t move right now.

Countless weapons were changing direction toward the Ten of Spades in my hand.

If I let go before the trajectory was fully altered, the Gaia Ego would dissipate, and Historia would bear the brunt of the countless projectiles.

As I was forced to watch, I saw Maximilien hiding behind his cloak.

What was that thing called again?

The gear cloak?

It was the cloak that blocked the Regressor’s slash.

A cloak in which countless gears were tightly meshed, rotating to actively defend against attacks.

Its meshing nature distorted space, making it particularly effective at blocking spatial or wind attacks.

Of course, while it specialized in that, it was also good at blocking other things.

Could Historia, weakened by drugs, pierce through that?

Even with Mind Reading, that was hard to predict.

You wouldn’t know until it happened.

However…

Consensus of Gun and Sword: Thrust.

I somehow have a feeling.

Historia pulled the gun far back, then thrust it forward as she squeezed the trigger.

It was a motion akin to driving a knife in or thrusting a spear.

At the same time, the drawn-out gunshot characteristic of Consensus of Gun and Sword echoed.

A faint afterimage connected the gun barrel and the cloak.

It hit.

And it was blocked.

Maximilien’s cloak caved in, and several broken gears flew in all directions.

Because there was a real bullet, it seemed to have caused more damage than when fighting the Regressor.

Even so, the cloak wasn’t penetrated.

Historia’s Li was also a type that interfered with space.

Even with a real bullet, the cloak, which distorts space with countless meshes, was a bad matchup for Historia’s.

As expected.

I was about to despair when I noticed something strange.

The gunshot didn’t stop.

It was not a rapid-fire, but continuous.

One shot continued to follow another.

The bullet hadn’t elongated, nor had she fired dozens of rounds.

But the cloak kept being pressed in, and gears shattered until there was nothing left to break.

The crack that began at one point gradually widened.

The subsequent force reinforced the power of the initial hit.

At this point, it was neither a gun nor a sword.

It had reached the level of a spear.

Gun or spear, which is superior?

The answer to this long-standing question of Sunderspear’s was revealed here.

With the rather cliché answer of “a thousand streams will, in the end, converge as one”.

Finally, the cloak was pierced.

Crash.

Maximilien’s body was impaled by the invisible shot.

The Impact sent him flying through the air.

The gears that were his strength and life scattered like blood.