In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 9 Page 6

  But, just like when Moroha had tried, the blade couldn’t cut deep enough to reach the core.

  “[Char]!” Ende yelled something, and the gorilla’s chest shattered open in response. The Dragoon’s right arm also split apart at the same time. The Gorilla Phrase stood up and made an attempt to brush Ende away, but he deftly avoided it.

  Immediately following Ende’s retreat, a lightning-fast Frame Gear came up from behind him and charged toward the exposed core with its fist.

  “Single Smasher!!!” It was Elze in Gerhilde, launching a lethal pile bunker into the exposed core.

  The orange thing cracked and then shattered into numerous shards. In tandem, the entire gorilla body cracked, and then crumpled into an unrecognizable pile.

  “Woohoo!”

  “Ahaha... Good work....” Gerhilde raised its arm into the air, proudly standing over the gorilla’s remains.

  Geez... I didn’t even get to do that much.

  “The Upper Construct has fallen. Let’s begin mopping up the leftovers now. Take them out, one at a time.” I relayed the message to the other Frame Gears. There were only a few Lesser and Intermediate Constructs left, so work was almost over.

  “I’ll go help too, yeah? Lemme borrow some swords, Touya.” Moroha had used up all her weapons on the Gorilla Phrase, so I gave her two greatswords.

  She moved with grace and speed in equal measures as she darted off to the fight.

  As I saw her off, the Dragoon came up to me. The hatched popped open, and out jumped Ende.

  “My bad, Touya. The arm broke.”

  “No, you were a real lifesaver back there. I’ll fix the Dragoon for you, so come back and pick it up later... By the way, just what did you even do back there?”

  “I used a magical ‘sound,’ or at least a vibration. I was trying to focus it on one point, but the arm blew off as well. I misjudged how much power to use.”

  Huh, I see. Kinda like when I tried using the Knight Baron at full power. The Dragoon’s base was, after all, the same as the Knight Baron and Chevalier’s, it was probably a little weak for the full brunt of Ende’s strength.

  I should probably make him a new one from the ground up. It’d be a pain if it broke every time he did something like that, since he’ll have to come back to us and get it fixed. Might raise questions, since he doesn’t serve Brunhild.

  As I was thinking to myself, I looked over at the Dragoon and suddenly felt a strange sensation wash over me.

  What the... hell?

  “......I’m sorry, Touya. Things just got a little bit worse.” Ende moved up close to me, staring up at something in the sky all the while.

  What is that?

  “Hey... Don’t tell me another Upper Construct is gonna show up!”

  “It’s... not an Upper Construct. It’s so much worse. I’m sorry.” The sky itself seemed to shatter as a harrowing screech rang out through the land.

  In under a second, the “thing” emerged from the gaping hole, and gracefully landed on the ground.

  A crystal... person. A body covered all over in Phrasium, with the exception of its stomach.

  It had piercing red eyes. Its long “hair” crackled and made snapping noises. It looked like it was based on a female human, judging from its chest and body shape. The chest was completely covered in crystal as well, coating all the way along its shoulders and arms. It was around the same size as a regular woman.

  “What... What the hell is this?”

  “This is a Phrase beyond even the Upper Constructs... A Dominant Construct.”

  “A what?!” She looked around and, apparently picking up on my shock, looked right over at me and Ende.

  「#om@e€h@......＊e€nd#e!」

  “Damn it... For her of all Phrase to come through the barrier...” Ende smiled wryly as she began approaching him. All of a sudden she jumped into the air and brought her fist crashing toward him.

  Ende caught her fist with his right hand. The shockwave from the impact nearly bowled me over.

  Holy cow, she’s strong... Luckily Ende isn’t exactly normal, either.

  “Wh-What the hell?! Is this a friend of yours?!”

  “We know each other, but I wouldn’t exactly call us friends. I doubt she’ll let me escape, either.” She didn’t exactly look like she was happy to see him. The human features made it easier to read her feelings, and she looked seriously pissed off.

  「#k∋#is@m@$! ouwo＊d◎o kΩo≒hey+@tΣt@?!」

  “I don’t know, I’m sorry.” I couldn’t understand a word she was saying, but Ende seemed to know enough to respond.

  The Phrase Woman struck Ende’s arm and jumped back, putting a good deal of distance between them. After a few seconds, she opened her mouth up wide.

  Particles of light began gathering around her open maw, combining together in a glittering orb.

  Oh crap, that’s not good!

  Moments later, she unleashed a devastating beam of energy toward Ende. I could tell even at a glance that it was far more powerful than the beams employed by the Upper Constructs.

  “Gh, [Reflection]!” I produced a reflective barrier in a frenzied panic. Due to the short notice, I didn’t have much finesse, and the beam ended up being reflected at an awkward angle. I watched as the beam vanished into the sky, after destroying a distant mountaintop. Naturally, the reflective barrier was annihilated as well.

  What... What the hell kinda strength is that?!

  Ever-adaptive, the Phrase Woman transformed her right arm into a blade and came charging forward. Ende deftly dodged her slashes and grabbed her by the wrists.

  “Sorry Touya, I’ve gotta bail. I’ll come back for my Dragoon later on, so I’d appreciate it if you patched her up. Thanks!”

  “Huh? What?!” Ende’s body began to evaporate into a fog as he kept a tight grip on the Phrase woman. After a short while, the two of them completely dispersed into mist, leaving me alone.

  I stood there on the abandoned battlefield, left completely in shock. I had no way of understanding just what it was I’d seen.

  ◇　◇　◇

  In some ways, I am not a fortunate man. For it to have been her... one of the Sovereign’s most trusted aides. For it to have been her... a being that so truly despises me...

  Still, I am fortunate in this instance... Only in that I have managed to lead her out of the dimensional boundary. My dimensional warp has successfully brought the two of us to a gap between worlds. It’s not a power I can use excessively, though. It’ll take some time before I can return to the world I just abandoned.

  There’s really nothing at all within the space between dimensions. Nothing but her, as she glares. A grid-like pattern stretches out in the distance behind us, above us, below us, and in front of us.

  “I wondered why... I wondered why there were so many miserable little humans on the other side, you wretched cur! Was this your doing, Endymion?!”

  “Hey, don’t misunderstand me here. It’d be a pain if you guys ended up breaking through, so I’ve been killing the ones you sent. Still, the fact that a Dominant Construct like you made it through only means it’s already too late.” It was certainly no small feat for beings like the Phrase to cross worlds. I was worried they had found the right seam to tear in order to rip their way into the next world, and it seems that my fears were not unfounded.

  “Well, that matters not now. I have questions for you, scum. The Sovereign. Where is the Sovereign?!”

  “Like I told you last time, I don’t know. The Sovereign is surely somewhere in that world, though. But have you never stopped to consider that the one you seek might not want to see you?”

  “Hold your tongue, Endymion! If it weren’t for your interloping, our Sovereign would have never lost their sanity! You dare act self-righteous when you destabilized our world?!” Interloping... Of course. Her opinion of me was never high to begin with. But that’s simply a matter of opinion in the end. My role as observer doesn’t extend far beyond the act itself. Th
ough I can’t deny the effects of what I did.

  “I’ll ask, just to be sure, but... I don’t suppose you plan on leaving this world alone?”

  “Don’t be a fool! We’ll never withdraw, not until we’ve rescued our Sovereign!”

  “Rescued, huh? Seems more like captured to me.” The girl, Ney... began to gnash her teeth in response to my words.

  “Don’t dare confuse my ambitions with those mongrel dogs! I don’t wish to seize the Sovereign’s power! I merely want the Sovereign back!” The Phrase all hunted the Sovereign. There were some among them that desired to become the new Sovereign, of course. Ney was different, however. She only wanted to reinstate the Sovereign to their original position. But she was still my enemy.

  “I would like to ask you to withdraw. I have a personal investment in this world. I even managed to meet an interesting person there.” Mochizuki Touya... A strange fellow indeed. I’m never able to get a proper read on him. He’s abnormal. He resembles a human, but he doesn’t smell like one at all. He lives in that world, but I can tell that he’s not from that world. I’ve never met an individual like him before. It’s possible he’s from some kind of mutated or divergent lineage.

  The people referred to as his ‘sisters’ were also abnormal, though slightly different. I was fairly sure they were the same species as him, though. Rarities across the cosmos.

  I sensed no hostility from him when we first met. He treated me kindly, and often meddled in affairs so he could save people. He was a man who often got a raw deal, but still worked for the sake of others.

  I want to introduce him to the Sovereign. If that’s possible, at least.

  “We will rescue the Sovereign even if we have to vivisect every last human in that world. Your feelings are irrelevant.”

  “I see... Are you sure? You may find yourself at odds with one more powerful than I.” That made her angry again, of course. Her anger was justified. I was the one that snatched their precious Sovereign away.

  It’s not as if we intended this to happen. We simply thought that the other Phrase would elect a new Sovereign and carry on with their lives.

  But they wanted power. They clung to the old strength, their traditions. They didn’t adapt or overcome. They desired to regain their old power, even if that meant following it across worlds and wiping out countless lives.

  As a result, they spread out across reality and became a great plague. They had no intention of stopping. The irony isn’t lost on me, of course. They’re doing what I do, just on a larger and more destructive scale. The only thing I can do in my selfishness is mitigate the damage they cause.

  The Sovereign slowly saps the energy of its host bit-by-bit. When the host dies, the Sovereign transports itself into another host. In most cases the host never realizes what’s inside them, and lives out their life without any worries. The Sovereign doesn’t harm the one they’re infesting, after all.

  After repeating that process several times, the Sovereign gains enough energy to cross dimensions and head toward the next world. The world ‘higher up’ than the previous one.

  When the host dies, the Sovereign’s ‘voice’ becomes audible for but a scant moment. Every time the sound resounds, the Sovereign climbs closer and closer up those stairs. As it changes host in this world, it slowly builds more power.

  “Do you think the miserable humans of that world have strength enough to oppose us?”

  “You saw them take out an Upper Construct, did you not?”

  “Hmph. I’m sure you had something to do with that. Once this accursed barrier falls, we’ll be sure to annihilate the entire species!” A clanging sound echoed out into the black as Ney struck the physical boundary of their world.

  We were both within the gap between worlds, but she was outside of the membrane, and I was inside. This girl and her allies... They aren’t capable of my ability, the power that allows one to shift between worlds with ease. They’re left with no choice but to look for loose seams and force their way through.

  It would buy us time, at least, but it was still an inevitability. Surely the other Dominant Constructs were searching for weak points as well.

  “I’ve offered you this chance before, Ney... But how about you just join m—”

  “Silence! I shall not be charmed by honeyed words! I’m not like Lycee!”

  “What a shame. She’d like to see you again, I’m sure.”

  “...Is Lycee safe?”

  “She is.” Lycee’s likely waiting for me to come back even as I’m having this conversation. Though I feel as though I’ll be late today. Still, she’s tough. I’m sure it’ll be fine.

  “...When next we meet, you won’t find me so merciful. Hold on to your pathetic life until then, scum.” With those words, Ney faded into the blackness. Goodness gracious me... She always was a hassle.

  It’ll take a considerable amount of time before my power returns. I won’t be able to get back to that world for a while... It’s why I wasn’t keen on using this ability. Either way, given the hostile nature of Ney’s encounter with me, it was the only thing I could do.

  Although... I have a feeling Touya may have done something to surprise me, like he usually does. It’s been so very long since I’ve smelled a person like him, after all.

  About five-thousand years, I think... He’s similar to that interesting woman who also managed to muster the impossible.

  Regina Babylon, I think her name was.

  ◇　◇　◇

  That Dominant Construct or whatever vanished, but the fact that something like that existed was scary. I didn’t know we’d be facing something more powerful than an Upper Construct. Plus, it was the size of a human being, which meant fighting it in the Frame Gear wasn’t wise.

  Naturally, the incident was broadcast to the world leaders who were watching the battlefield, and they had dozens of questions for me. I didn’t have any answers, though. All I could say was that the creature was beyond the Gorilla Phrase in strength, and it appeared to have emotions.

  She spoke in an unusual tongue, but it felt like she was actively communicating with Ende. I wasn’t sure what to make of that.

  Either way, the battle was over and we’d already finished cleaning the place up. The damage to Roadmare was far less than the damage done to Yulong. Though, one of the mountaintops had been blown clear away. The battlefield itself was also a total wasteland thanks to the raw destructive power of that gorilla.

  Thankfully, we hadn’t taken any fatalities, but there were definitely a lot of injured. Most of the injuries had come from the earthquake triggered by the Upper Construct. The wounded soldiers had been sent straight to the HQ, where Sue and Leen patched them up with recovery magic. Flora also chipped in with medication.

  Even after all our preparation, it ended up like this. Still, we were very lucky to even know what was happening in the first place.

  Roadmare was saved. Though their capital city had incurred serious structural damage thanks to the Golem rampage. That didn’t really have anything to do with us, though.

  Bowman was forced to toil in the mines as punishment for his negligence. His sentence was a full ten years of hard labor.

  The Doge was also struck by several accusations of reckless endangerment and negligence for funding Bowman’s plan in the first place.

  Eventually he was stripped of his title, and a new member of the nobility stepped up to control the central province in his place.

  The one to succeed him as Doge of the Roadmare Union was none other than the diligent Governor Audrey.

  She was definitely cunning, and used us to her advantage. That didn’t make her a bad person, though. Just a shrewd one.

  Working with Audrey would be much better than that stupid old jerk.

  As her first act, she ceased all production and research on the Golems. That was only natural. They didn’t want another out-of-control Golem going wild.

  Also, after a discussion amongst their representatives, they all agreed to jo
in the alliance. It seemed like the main reason for that decision was so they could borrow our Frame Gears in case of emergency, though. I decided to give them some Frame Units for practice.

  Cleaning up the mess in Roadmare was much easier thanks to the Frame Gears, but none of their knights were able to pilot them, so I decided to dispatch various knights to act as instructors. Nikola was among them.

  The city was gradually returning to its former glory thanks to the clean-up operation.

  Doge Audrey also started work on repairing the relations between Roadmare and Regulus, drafting up several agreeable deals in very little time.

  Naturally they wouldn’t be best friends right away, but it was a sure step in the right direction.

  Roadmare was between the nations of Ramissh, Regulus, Felsen, and Yulong. It traded with most of those locations via land routes. Well, used to. Yulong’s dissolution cut off that lifeline.

  That was why the agreement with Regulus was an unexpected godsend. Certainly good for the Union on a whole.

  “Master, sir! Requesting some of your time, sir!”

  “Huh?” Rosetta was in the middle of repairing Ende’s Dragoon in the Hangar, but she stopped me. More specifically, she was attaching a new arm to replace the one Ende had broken. We’d fit the new and improved Dragoon with a sturdier endoskeleton. The Dragoon was built for speed over of power, so it was no real surprise that it had broken so easily. I wouldn’t be surprised if it ended up happening again.

  Rosetta hopped down from the crane.

  “Something odd happened during the recent battle, sir!”

  “Huh? Like what?” During the day of the battle, I asked Rosetta and Monica to keep watch over the Frame Gears.

  They also had the jobs of observing and investigating the movements of the Phrase. They were basically our eyes in the sky. I definitely didn’t want to leave that to Parshe... Her clumsiness was lethal.

  “Well, sir! The numbered of injured soldiers amounted to thirty-six, yessir! However, there was a major discrepancy! You recovered thirty-five Frame Gears from the battlefield. That leaves one unit unaccounted for, sir!”