The Weakness of Beatrice the Level Cap Holy Swordswoman-Volume 4, Chapter 3: Boss_Quest 03 "Launch_Sequence" Grade: Unscorable

Part 1

(Central Shaft)

Sleep! It’s time to sleep!!

When fighting consecutive battles, the Willpower which powered Magic was most important. If they could not avoid a fight with this monster, they needed to recover as much as possible first.

They did not have their pajamas with them now.

“Well, I’m fine as long as I strip naked.”

“Okay, everyone. Let’s stop that pervert who just pulled out her nightcap!!!!!!”

To make a long story short, some teenage girls slept directly on the floor of the giant elevator. But...

“Uuh... I can’t sleep with the grinding of the gears... And they’re making the floor vibrate...”

“Just get to sleep. Even 5 or 10 minutes will recover some Willpower and we never know what will determine life or death. We all know this isn’t as nice as an inn, so quit complaining!”

Armelina handed out some chocolate and biscuits she had as emergency rations, but that may have been to help them get to sleep even a little sooner. At this point, not even the bare minimum of virtues (not eating before going to sleep) could be found.

Beatrice used her fire illusion Magic to display a frame.

“Eh heh heh. Good night, Boo Boo.”

“...Um, Beatrice?”

“What is it, Wildefrau? I’m going through the final ritual used when I just can’t seem to sleep. Look how cute Boo Boo was back then☆ I’m so glad I took a Screenshot.”

“B-but should you really be losing yourself in memories when the real Boo Boo is right there...?”

The Iberian Orc himself only tilted his head and squealed, so it may not have been that big an issue.

Meanwhile, Filinion unwrapped one of the chocolates the Fighter Priest was distributing.

“But scheduling it out like this only makes it harder to sleep. It’s not like you can plan to go to sleep in precisely an hour and then do so.”

“You don’t get to complain when you’re keeping us up with that aroma candle, you cowww!!”

They were technically in the Labyrinth, but this shaft did not connect to the other passageways and there were none of the Gimmicks that copied the structures of living creatures or the Traps embedded in the walls or floor. And it was true they were exhausted after fighting Sibyl and the Sage back to back. They complained a lot at first, but they eventually quieted down.

There may have been a pajama boom underway, but they had always taken naps in the Labyrinth by establishing a small barrier in place of a sleeping bag, placing a single blanket over the hard stone, and sleeping on top of that. You did not reach the level cap without the ability to endure some discomfort.

However...

“Squeal...”

At some point, Boo Boo started dozing off even though he did not have to worry about Magic or Willpower. He may have simply been bored without anyone to talk to. This proved to be a problem.

“Zzz. Mutter, mutter. Bgohh...zgohhhhh.”

“Uh, oh...”

“Bgohhh!! Bgooooooogh!! ...Mutter, mutter. The superb flavor has plunged the judge into a sea of sashimiiiii!! Bgoghhh!!”

“Byaaaahh!! B-B-Boo Boo... What is this bombardment for!?”

“Cow, complain if you like, but Boo Boo’s tossing and turning is worse than his snor-...”

Before Beatrice could finish her warning, the gray pig-faced giant rolled over. The tearfully complaining glasses girl uttered a strange “Bglh!?” and fell silent. She seemed to have lost consciousness, but it was a mystery if she would recover any Willpower in the meantime.

Wildefrau grew pale and shot to her feet.

“Wh-wh-wh-what do we do about this!? This is just as dangerous as one of those traps with a boulder rolling down a slope! Really, what do we do!?”

“Mutter, mutter...zzzzz!! ...And now for some dessert! The expert’s plan for a comeback was hidden in the dessert, not the main diiiiish!! Bubah, bubah!!”

It was unclear what kind of dream had him so excited, but Boo Boo moved some more.

A thick tongue stuck out from his mouth which was far larger than it seemed.

“Ah.”

With Filinion squashed, Beatrice was closest to him.

And not even the strongest Holy Swordswoman had time to prepare herself.

It happened in a single strike.

He mimicked licking something and, with a horribly wet sound, she was covered in saliva from below her hips to above her chest.

“Hyahhhhn!?”

His tongue moved from below her navel to her breastplate and even higher. When she heard the strained, high-pitched noise she uttered on reflex, Beatrice felt a blush spread out to her ears.

Wildefrau also blushed and shouted at the Holy Swordswoman trembling next to her.

“Don’t make such lewd sounds!”

“N-no...!! Wh-what!? That voice...what is happening to my body!?”

“Don’t worry, Beatrice. You shut one eye and turned your face the other way, so he just barely missed your lips. It doesn’t count as your first kiss. Your cheek and hair are certainly a mess, though.”

“Eh? You mean I’m a girl who had her entire body licked before her first kiss!?”

Armelina’s calm comment led Beatrice to feel like she had gotten the order of things in her life completely out of whack, but a look at her Shining Weapon showed her Experience Points had indeed gone up slightly.

“Kh...!! This is supposed to be when the pointlessly plump glasses cow comes in handy, but she’s so slow she got herself crushed right away!”

“Don’t act like you wouldn’t cause a supernova if anyone but you had something happen with Boo Boo.”

And this was not the time to be stubborn.

Boo Boo was fast asleep, but his gigantic tongue was still sticking out as he rolled around.

The Fighter Priest made up her mind immediately. Her survival instincts had been honed in the severe Labyrinth, and they told her exactly what to do.

“Special Technique☆Beatrice Barrier!!”

“Wait! Armelina!?”

“Shut up. As I said, if any of us gets hit by Boo Boo, it’ll trigger that jealousy explosion of yours. I’m not about to let disaster strike me twice. And that means you just need to look after him on your own!!”

It all sounded like a joke, but Armelina was serious as she circled behind the red Holy Swordswoman with a smile. She used all of the arm strength built up for physical attacks to hold Beatrice’s slender shoulders and not let go.

“H-how can you people betray each other so readily right before a major battle!?”

Wildefrau protested, but the police officer looked aside with a cold sweat pouring from her face.

“Sorry, Ice Waterfall Princess. But I swore to myself I would remain a pure maiden in this world at least.”

“I feel like you’ve rewritten the definition of maiden for yourself...”

But just as she made that super cool-headed comment...

“Bhyoo boo, bhyoo, boboo... Bgoh, zgohhhhhh! Delicious!! It’s so delicious!! But there was alcohol mixed in!! Boboo!!”

With an incredibly threatening aura, a giant, thick, and heavy object passed by Wildefrau. It was the extra-large sticky tongue protruding from Boo Boo’s mouth.

“......................................................................................................................................................................................................”

Ice Waterfall Princess Wildefrau thought for a while with a smile frozen on her sweaty face.

And...

“Ah, wait, no!? Wildefrau, you’re our last voice of reason, so don’t you hide behind me too! Bbraaw! Wah! Waaaahhh!?” ƒ𝔯𝗲𝗲𝙬𝒆𝚋𝐧oѵℯl.𝒄𝑜m

Unable to dodge the tongue that rushed in on its way back, Beatrice let out an extended cry like a fighting game character’s defeat yell and she collapsed on the spot.

The other 2 began to tremble with their greatest shield gone.

“Ah, ah wah, ah wah wah wah wah wah...”

“H-hey. Beatrice stomped right up to the Crystal Bridge Guild Battle where it was said 3 million Magic attacks were being exchanged and she conquered it all on her own! If she’s gone pale, this must do more damage than the entire human race can hope to bear!”

The survivors, Armelina and Wildefrau, wanted to avoid being crushed to death or licked all over. The cries of the people who had met those fates were still fresh in their memories!!

And this was not a case of one precluding the other. They could see the tongue licking across unconscious Filinion from her stomach to below her chest. The attack never let up.

“Oh, no! He’s rolling this way! Run! Run away!!”

“Armelina, I’m guessing this is your fault for handing out those snacks. The sweet smell is guiding Boo Boo in his dream. ...Hee hee☆”

“Wildefrauuuu!!”

Part 2

(The Factory)

In the end, only Boo Boo felt refreshed.

An extra heavy shaking of the elevator woke him.

He blinked and spoke. f𝚛e𝗲𝔀e𝚋𝑛o𝘃𝒆𝗹.c𝗼𝒎

“Oh, I’m drooling. Rub, rub... Huh? What? Are we there already???”

“Y-yeah... Prepare yourself, Boo Boo. We really are going to be relying on you...”

Beatrice, Filinion, Armelina, and Wildefrau looked a lot stickier and weary than when he had last seen them, but if they were relying on him, he would have to do this best. After all, he was full of energy!!

The elevator had stopped.

They had arrived at the very bottom of the Labyrinth.

Beatrice looked around.

“I don’t see the Sage anywhere.”

“Well, I would feel a little bad if we crushed her below the elevator...but then where did she get off to?”

Filinion sounded hesitant, but a simple search was unlikely to find her.

Was it really possible to reach this place on foot? The long, narrow corridor did have a large stairway leading up in addition to the elevator, but it was unknown if anyone could reach it under their own power. The lights lining the walls at even intervals looked like collections of fireflies and Boo Boo’s group naturally followed them.

They finally found a large room.

It only contained a round door much like the entrance to a bank vault. And it was quite large. Its diameter was larger than a school classroom. Thick metal rods were attached around the perimeter to lock it in place. There were dozens...no, hundreds of them all told. Not even Beatrice was confident she could force it open with pure firepower.

“Gulp.”

Boo Boo gulped and touched the round door.

And something odd happened.

The impregnable door suddenly spun around. As it repeatedly rotated to the right and left according to some kind of rules, sharp cracks entered the entire thick wall. No, that was not accurate. What had looked like a bank vault door was actually a dial given that shape and size. The seemingly never-ending wall was the sealing door.

“I didn’t do anything.”

“Then someone must be doing something on the inside. Be careful, Boo Boo!”

Yes, if the Labyrinth was an automatic factory meant to create the ultimate weapon, then that was what must be waiting at the deepest point. And its emergence was not necessarily a good thing. What if that door was meant to prevent its escape and not just keep intruders out? The door’s opening would not necessarily lead to anything good.

Because this might mean the monster had finished analyzing the structure of the lock and was crawling out.

“It’s waiting,” said Boo Boo.” The Ground’s Nir monster is waiting up ahead.”

It opened.

The final door opened.

And what waited for them there?

A dark and muscular king of beasts looking down at them from a giant throne.

“...!!!???”

“Wait, Beatrice. It isn’t moving.”

Beatrice’s heart leaped in her chest and she reached for her rapier, but Boo Boo calmly stopped her.

Sure enough, a closer inspection showed that the outline in the darkness was only giant statue taking that demonic form. That demon king and the throne it sat in were both fake. And cables were connected to them.

Out of habit, Beatrice called up her fire illusion Magic frames and lines, but then her thoughts ground to a halt.

“Hold on. Cables???”

She questioned it anew.

And once she knew it was fake, she could divert her focus from the overpowering presence.

What they saw there was almost enough to send all their preconceived notions crashing down.

“What...?”

Every wall of the vast space was covered in countless flat-screen monitors of varying sizes. Cables crawled along the floor and oppressively large boxy masses hung down from the unseen ceiling. Those devices that hung down like stalactites were probably some kind of processor.

Everything was hard, cold, and out of place.

None of it should exist in Ground’s Nir, a world of swords and sorcery.

Beatrice felt an intense sense of revulsion in the back of her mind. She felt like observing anything in here would break some kind of taboo. It was a wild collection of hopelessly broken rules. The space was filled with blasphemy.

Filinion gulped and viewed the monitors.

“Are these...the plans for Gimmicks? It looks like this covers everything from the weakest annoyances to the Punishment types that cause instant death if you encounter them.”

“And this is...a map of the current Labyrinth? No, it has a ton of weird arrows on it. Is it simulating how it’ll be distorted next!?”

The encyclopedia and map-obsessed girls both voiced their surprise and Wildefrau focused on the data from a different angle.

“That isn’t all. It seems to be monitoring the movement patterns of the intruders. In other words, the actions of us humans.”

“It can’t be...”

Beatrice created more and more frames and connected them with all sorts of lines. She was supposed to be organizing her information, but she was only growing more confused.

She was inundated by information.

Come to think of it, the Iberian Orcs had feared the monster’s completion and were prepared to fight as a village to stop it, but hadn’t the delinquent soldiers of Elkiad mentioned that the Iberian Orcs had not liked that the humans were visiting the Labyrinth?

And the Nonhumans living on Ground’s Nir’s surface had somehow known that approaching the Labyrinth was a bad idea.

Could it be?

“Was it using the entire Labyrinth...to determine what the strongest being is? Was it using combat to decide what physical structure and thought processes are strongest...?”

The Gimmicks wandering the Labyrinth had used clockwork designs to mimic the structures of plants and animals. Those were likely samples that had been fully analyzed and artificially recreated. Then those existing samples were pitted against the unknown intruders to gather more data.

Almost like the experiments in the evolution of artificial life using computers.

The Labyrinth had remade itself into harsh environments to see how long the life forms inside it could survive. Perhaps the Iberian Orcs had opposed entering the Labyrinth in order to delay the test schedule and interfere with the work to design the ultimate weapon that slept in the greatest depths.

In that case, what had the Labyrinth ultimately decided was the “strongest lifeform”?

A low mechanical rumbling reached their ears.

Beatrice looked over to the source of the noise and saw the giant demon king statue wriggling in its throne at the center of the space surrounded by monitors. The movement came from the core where all of the cords and cables gathered.

It opened.

A vertical crack ran down the center and it opened like a double-door iron maiden.

And inside was...

A girl.

A slender, lovely, and delicate human girl.

...In a way, this was the obvious result.

Once Beatrice reached the same answer with her many frames and lines, she could not stop the chill running down her back.

Which lifeform had most often entered the Labyrinth, defeated the most Gimmicks, overcome the most Traps, and reached the deepest floor? If that was defined as the strongest form, what would the automatic factory base its ultimate weapon on?

It was obvious: humans.

“Connection to fully-powered body confirmed. Internal power and signal sync confirmed. All green.”

There was a voice.

A feminine-sounding artificial voice gently filled the space.

“Acceptable results were successfully reached using the results of 130 million simulated logic tests. As per the given task, the final physical test within the Labyrinth shall begin. Once complete, execution of Priority 1 may begin.”

Her hair shined silver like it was coated with metal in places and two strands dangled down on her shoulders.

Based on her height and the outlines of her body, she was probably meant to be younger than Beatrice.

Instead of any kind of armor, she wore what looked like a black one piece swimsuit with a large hole in the stomach. Identically colored fabric was wrapped around her arms and legs.

She had solid pointed ears, but they were different from an Elf’s.

The girl had her eyes calmly closed as she swam in the mysterious liquid contain within a giant clear water tank positioned like the demon king statue’s womb.

“Not good...”

That was ruin.

That waking ruin would spread the concepts of death and destruction across the world once she opened her eyes.

“Not good!!!!!!”

“Ground’s Nir – Abyss. Beginning final physical test.”

It was like a sharp blade slicing through a thin membrane.

Something seemed to turn red.

And once the closed eyes opened wide, they encountered the end.

Part 3

(The Factory)

“Kah...”

What...

What had happened?

“...Huh?”

For a while, Beatrice did not understand. By the time she had heard a thick glass container breaking and a viscous liquid bursting out, a terrible impact had passed through her entire body and slammed her into the giant monitors on the wall.

She could just barely move her eyes enough to see that Filinion, Armelina, Wildefrau, and Boo Boo were in a similar state. They lay against the wall or on the floor, like a powerful storm had blown through.

And Abyss was nowhere to be seen.

She had already left the deepest area.

Only the feminine artificial voice continued.

“Physical activation of Abyss confirmed. This armory’s purpose is complete, so commencing ordered shutdown of operations. Diverting all excess energy to Abyss. Primarily retaining monitoring functionality until full shutdown upon completion of test. All energy and materials will be sent to the completed Abyss.”

“Dammit...this isn’t good...”

She still had trouble breathing after her back slammed into the wall, but she had to get moving. Beatrice unsteadily pulled herself from the nonfunctioning monitor and once more stood on her own two feet within the Labyrinth.

“Boo Boo, everyone! Stand up! The monster...Abyss has been released. We’ll lose everything if she follows the Labyrinth to the surface!! So we have to stop her!!”

“Monitoring energy across all of Ground’s Nir: 58%, 57%, 56%...”

That countdown reaching 0% sounded like a bad thing.

Would the surface be sucked dry of all forms of energy to destroy the food chain from the bottom up? Or would the island itself collapse? Either way, the greatest fear of the Iberian Orcs and the Sage was going to happen. It was not going to stop by pure coincidence. If they did nothing, ruin was inevitable. Only after Beatrice worked with all her strength would they “happen across” a “coincidental” chance of derailing that ruin.

“I-is there really any way of defeating that...? Cough.”

“We just have to keep her from reaching the surface, right!? Still, we need to get going!!”

They all slowly stood up and resumed moving.

They were up against an incarnation of violence who was powerful enough to brush aside 4 level cappers and an Iberian Orc. If they hoped to stop her, they could not repeat that foolishness.

“That said, the Labyrinth is a big place. We can’t let ourselves get lost either. Filinion!”

“Okay! Fine, then!”

She threw a colorful test tube to the floor which began to glow like someone had applied glow-in-the-dark paint. The light marked Abyss’s footprints. The mysterious liquid in the beaker seemed to react to it.

“This is the Hansel and Gretel method. Follow the bread crumbs and we can reach our target. Kyah!?”

They could not afford any more lost time.

Boo Boo once more held the unathletic White Witch under his arm and they all quickly left the factory area.

“She didn’t use the central shaft! The green footprints lead to the big staircase!”

“You mean she avoided the shortest course...?”

Why was unclear, but Beatrice’s group needed to catch up to Abyss as quickly as possible. Whatever route she had taken, they had to follow it.

“Boo. Is this...?”

“Boo Boo?”

Beatrice’s question went unanswered because he was lost in thought. Regardless, they had to find Abyss. They ran up the stairs to reach the next floor up.

Part 4

(On Ground’s Nir)

It was a moonlit night.

“Hmm, things sure are boring with Boo Boo gone.”

Fairy Queen Sutriona had been influenced by the human fad, so she was pacing the brick house in the mountains while wearing nothing but a button-up shirt as sexy pajamas.

“Zzz...”

Snores could be heard from the Fairy Queen’s shoulder. Elder Morgan was sleeping there while wearing bagworm pajamas made from flower petals tied together with Ground Spider silk. She was tied on tight, so she would not fall from Sutriona’s shoulder no matter how much she moved. The elder had been Sutriona’s conversation partner for a while, but the Break News was alone now.

(Maybe I should stop being so nocturnal.)

Looking a little lonely, Sutriona walked to the small garden next to the house.

“Hey, perverted carrot. You’ve noticed, haven’t you?”

“I have.”

A beautiful woman with brown skin and long hair was buried in the softly tilled soil to just below her chest. She was Ileana, the greatest of the Mandragoras. She wore something like a flower bud lampshade. The thin film covered her entire body like a poncho. She had mistaken the pursuit of entertainment and luxury for proof of intelligence and rationality. She may have thought it was the same as the human pajamas, but that did not make it any less see-through.

“I keep feeling this odd sensation like an invisible hand is grabbing and shaking the core of my body.”

“Good,” said Sutriona. “That means I’m not imagining it.”

With the low rumbling of air, a giant silhouette passed by overhead, obscuring the moon. That was the Thousand Dragon a flying dragon measuring 1000 meters long who created great quantities of clouds just by flying by.

Sutriona put her hands on her hips, sighed, and struck a bold pose despite only wearing a button-up shirt.

“Big or small, it would seem all of the Break News are on the move. I’ve heard our strength is used against our will to power the largescale Traps in the Labyrinth, so perhaps something strange is occurring there.”

“Even so, why not leave this to the reckless humans who choose to visit that Labyrinth?” Ileana turned her head around with half her body still buried in the soil. “That over there would be the bigger problem for us.”

They heard something like a seductive feminine laugh.

And that was not entirely inaccurate.

But it was the middle of the night and well outside the human inn town, so it was an odd thing to hear from the dense forest.

“I said big or small, didn’t I? The one’s that were more affected have gone crazy like that. And they still have their power as a Break News.”

“Hee hee hee. Eh heh heh. Tee hee. Eh heh heh heh heh heh.”

It was oddly calm overall, but it contained an irregular wave that filled the listener’s heart with unease. And it slowly approached. A broken silhouette could be glimpsed between the trees.

They were finally revealed to be a young woman in a monocle who had gorgeous jewels decorating her entire body.

Her wavy bluish-purple hair reached her feet and her skin was more blue than white. She seemed to absorb the night air and glowed with a pale light. She wore jewels across her naked body...no, there were enough of them that she seemed to be dragging them with her. She belonged to the species that the inn town’s humans referred to as the Treasure Goddesses.

No, it only looked that way.

Gullveig was camouflaged as the incarnation of a treasure monster, but the supposed jewels covering her body were actually univalve shellfish from the beach. In other words, they were colorful parasites. People were drawn in by the goddess’s nudity and the glow of the jewels, but once they were within the lethal range, the hundreds or thousands of lights would launch from her body and devour her poor, foolish prey. She was that sort of Break News.

“Heh heh. Eh heh heh. Ah hah hah. Eh heh hah hah hah hah hah...”

“Hey, pest,” said Ileana. “Isn’t her head pretty empty even without the Labyrinth affecting her?”

“Dammit. The one problem with all the Break News is how they’re all such perverts.”

However, that was not the only rustling sound.

Sutriona turned around fast enough for the bottom of her button-up shirt to flutter dangerously high.

“Flame Bubble, the goo lifeform that creates countless bubble bombs, and Frau Gothel, the statue of a beautiful girl with no known sculptor. What a pain. None of them are the kind you could talk with in the first place. It just makes this so much more complicated!”

“If they’re evil to the core, can’t we just kick their asses whether they were driven mad or not?”

It was true that the Break News were crawling all across the small island due to the change in the Labyrinth.

If they were intoxicated and began thrash their limbs around wildly, it would cause unimaginable damage. The village of Fairies who revered Sutriona and the human inn town she enjoyed visiting might both vanish into the mist.

“So does that mean you’re willing to help out, perverted carrot?”

“Hmph. I resent having to join forces with you, but this is shellfish, fire, and stone. The dirt too is a living thing. It breathes and drinks. I would hate to see such a nice garden be destroyed.”

Ileana sounded exasperated as she pulled herself from the ground.

And there was one legend concerning Mandragoras that everyone knew.

If they were carelessly uprooted, they would scream and steal the soul of all who heard it.

Immediately, Ileana fired a deadly soundwave spear from her mouth to signal the beginning of the battle.

Part 5

(??? / No records, area unnamed as no humans have ever arrived here)

After running up the large staircase, the walls, floor, and ceiling were divided into blocks to form what looked like thick transparent water tanks. They were filled with giant, dark red organs. None of them protruded from the tanks and none of the sticky liquid dripped down, but it was still far from a pleasant sight.

“Urp. What is this place...?”

“Abyss matters more than exploring this area. We can still see her footprints!”

They were trying to catch up, so they could not afford to lose time dealing with Gimmicks and Traps. Beatrice and the others carefully searched for enemies, fled to a different path when they caught sight of one, and avoided battle as they followed the footprints.

Something like a giant boot stuck full of swords and spears hopped about.

There was what looked like the remains of a carnivorous dinosaur that continually self-destructed and regenerated because it could not maintain its form.

A rundown life-size French doll wandered around in search of parts.

“Wait, wait, wait. The instant death Punishment ones that show up when you stay in one place for an hour pale in comparison to this lineup. The enemies get this bad when you’re this deep?”

“They don’t even seem based on existing plants and animals anymore...”

“Boo. Wait, look over there!”

They spotted a familiar face in the previous plaza of internal organs.

It looked like a girl wearing a black one piece swimsuit with her stomach revealed by a large hole. She had badly-distressed silver hair with two strands hanging down over the shoulders.

“Abyss!”

But she would escape as things were.

Beatrice clenched her teeth and Wildefrau shouted to her.

“There’s an Alarm in the same plaza as her! Beatrice, attack it from a distance!!”

“Oh, I get it!”

A magic circle glowed on Beatrice’s back.

She used Metal Jet. An attack like an orange laser beam scorched the air and struck the Gimmick standing next to Abyss. It looked like a large alarm clock.

The Alarm of Calamity was not that powerful on its own, but it was well-known for its devious strategy of calling in all the surrounding Gimmicks with an ear-splitting din.

The retro noise was reminiscent of a fire alarm.

“Yes.”

As expected, Beatrice’s group was ignored and the many Gimmicks gathered around Abyss who was just about to leave the organ plaza. This was the same method used to kill a rival. They could not let their guard down since each of these Gimmicks was equivalent to the extraordinary Punishment variety, but stopping Abyss took priority.

However.

It was like scoring a strike in bowling.

With a pleasant noise, the exceptional Gimmicks were scattered across the floor.

Even from a distance, it was unclear what had happened.

They had just barely managed to see Abyss swing a hand horizontally, but the length of her arm and the range of the attack did not match.

And the fear did not end there.

She must have realized this was a purposeful trap and not just some bad luck. She slowly turned around and glared at them. At the same time, the observer spoke using an artificial voice coming from all of the walls.

“Deadly Sugar Boot, Food Destruction Fang, Eternal Doll, and Alarm of Calamity defeated. Battle complete. Abyss earned 98,000 Experience Points.”

“Wha-...?”

Odd mechanical noises followed.

At some point, a large metal wheel had appeared on Abyss’s back. It was attached to her shoulder blades by two supports and the exterior edge of the wheel seemed to extend to attach to the wreckage of the smashed Gimmicks. It grabbed them as if with 3 thick fingers. They were like crude arms structured like a standing lamp or like angel wings made from heavy weaponry. The red light on the outer edge of her ankles combined with the black fabric over her shapely legs looked something like a dolphin or orca’s tail. She was like a transcendent being that ruled over land, sea, and sky.

As a final touch, an entirely unfamiliar pattern appeared above her head.

It hovered above her silver hair like an angel’s halo, but it was...a magic circle???

With a static electric hum, the lines on her clothing filled with red and a red warning triangle appeared directly on her skin below her chest. Her metal ears opened up into the three pieces with red light spread between them like sails.

“Abyss has learned new Magic. Metal Jet: standby.”

“Oh, no! Take cover!!”

Like with a 3D printer, it may have been too much for the world once it gained physical form. Just as they all pressed against the floor or walls, several orange beams sliced through the air and filled the entire space like laser art. The thick water tanks were sliced through and the giant, dark red organs inside burst out.

Beatrice did not want to accept the truth before her eyes.

She hesitated to write this new information into her frames and lines. But the horrific “truth” was attacking in real time.

“Abyss has learned new Magic. Rail Magnum, Big Bomb, Aero Gatling: standby.”

“Is she an unmanned weapon that learns Magic by defeating Gimmicks!?”

“Boo. Just like all of you.”

That outside perspective sent a chill down Beatrice’s spine. What if this was why Abyss had chosen to travel through the complex Labyrinth instead of using the direct central shaft? What would happen if that strongest weapon continually cannibalized the lower Gimmicks, stole their Experience Points, and limitlessly learned Magic?

Beatrice felt the fear of having a human privilege stolen by a machine.

It was the fear of being unable to catch up and forever losing their chance to switch her off if she passed a certain point.

“Anyway, stand up, Beatrice. We can’t just stay here.”

“R-right...!”

They avoided the organs spilling into the corridor and made their way to the plaza.

Abyss was already gone.

And they heard a deafening fire alarm from the next floor up.

Wildefrau spoke the worst possibility.

“...Curse her. Did she steal the Alarm of Calamity’s parts so she could gather the Gimmicks to herself!?”

Part 6

(??? / No records, area unnamed as no humans have ever arrived here)

Their surroundings changed once they climbed the stairs.

A red and black checkerboard floor was covered in cards and chips. What looked like a spinning merry-go-round was actually a roulette wheel. This floor seemed to have a casino motif.

As before, it was filled with never-before-seen Gimmicks, but they did not have time to cower in fear of them all.

“They’re already smashed and discarded. The cannibalization is complete...”

It felt like coming across the scene of a murder. An electric tension surrounded their bodies, but there was nothing left to move. They did not feel the more direct fear of knowing they could be stabbed in the gut at any time.

“I suppose it’s lucky these are unexplored areas where no one else will be...”

If she had gathered the powerful Gimmicks on the floor and defeated them all, just how many Experience Points had Abyss accumulated in her body?

“A-anyway.”

Beatrice tried to keep her thoughts moving before her fear pinned her in place.

“We need to catch up to Abyss. We know all too well that everything’s over if she reaches the surface.”

Just as they forced themselves to take the first step along the path of glowing footprints, they heard a creaking sound from overhead.

Beatrice looked up without thinking and there she saw it.

At some point, the monster named Abyss had approached them while clinging to the ceiling on all fours.

“Wha-...?”

“She’s already learned we were following her footprints and used it against us!?”

When simply following the footprints, it was hard to notice when you were directly under attack. And instead of just making a U-turn, she had clung to the ceiling to avoid making any more footprints while also approaching her pursuers from a blind spot as they focused on the floor.

The crude arms attached to the metal wheel on her back were holding all sorts of heavy weaponry, blades, and even a pile bunker.

The red lines across her body and the warning sign appearing directly on her skin below her chest were ominous.

The polite artificial voice made an announcement from the walls.

“Abyss has located the enemy. Humans: 4. Iberian Orc: 1. Commencing preemptive strike.”

“Beatrice!!”

The red Holy Swordswoman was still frozen in place, so Boo Boo pushed her with his leg in something a lot like a kick. Immediately, Abyss dropped down. She grabbed at the floor with all fours and flapped her incredibly sinister wings.

Boo Boo was defenseless after protecting someone he cared for and several targeting sights appeared on him as red dots. The halo-like magic circle gave off a much more violent light.

“Abyss is using Magic. Machine Spike, Flying Guillotine, Crater Lance: standby.”

“Boo Boo!?”

Beatrice screamed his name as blood sprayed mercilessly out.

A metal spike thicker than a sword, a circular blade that rapidly rotated as it flew, and a metal javelin heavier than iron all tore into his nearly four meter body. The momentum of the attacks slammed his back into the wall and Abyss prepared to make further attacks.

“Why you...!!” shouted Wildefrau.

A magic circle danced out from the cross-shaped sword on her chest and she summoned a giant lantern shield made of thick ice along with the Zweihänder sword held by its thick hands. She swung down that super heavy attack.

Abyss said nothing.

She leaped back to avoid the initial attack and then used the heavy weaponry wings on her back to forcibly hold the giant sword from either side.

It was a lot like grabbing a sword between your hands, but that was not how those arms were meant to be used. She failed to synchronize their timing and her body tilted down from the right shoulder.

But she was unharmed.

Her beautiful eyes mechanically focused.

The walls whispered.

“Increasing importance of Water Element Magic. Adjusted importance will be reflected in Magic learning choices.”

“Damn, is she using both us and the Gimmicks to grow now!?”

“Difficulty of resolving the current problem confirmed. Temporarily freezing task. Abyss will flee to prioritize the acquisition of more Experience Points.”

“She’s going to get away...!!”

Wildefrau attempted to throw her Zweihänder and grab at Abyss with her giant ice fingers, but their opponent was faster. She jumped backwards a few times and then ran full speed toward the stairs.

The Ice Waterfall Princess no longer held back.

She released the leather belts binding her body and drew the sealed sword from its scabbard. The magic circle on the sword exploded, releasing an absolute zero vacuum that froze even the components of the air.

However...

“She isn’t...stopping!?”

“Well, she is completely inorganic. It makes sense she can keep moving even inside pseudo outer space! But she should still flash-freeze at -273 degrees. Beatrice!!”

Yes, if things went well, they might be able to crack her sturdy armor using a massive temperature change.

“! Fire Throw!!”

The magic circle on her back glowed and flames scattered from her sweeping rapier, but she missed.

Abyss had already reached the next floor up.

“Oh, right! How’s Boo Boo!?”

“Don’t worry. Filinion is a genius, so I’m just fine.”

“No, you are not! Don’t be so reckless!!”

The White Witch held below his arm was right. She had used a healing potion on him, but his wounds were not entirely closed. He was only been slightly better off than instant death. It was true potions healed less and less as the body built up a resistance to them, but it was happening too quickly. Abyss may have used some kind of Magic that obstructed the healing.

“This means she isn’t going to just lose us and head straight for the surface. You might be able to call that lucky, but if we just sit here waiting for her to return, we’ll be wiped out for a true game over. There’s nothing we can do if she develops any further!”

“Squeal. About that...”

“What is it, Boo Boo?”

“We should probably hurry.”

Boo Boo ignored his injuries and looked to the ceiling. He may have been focused on something using senses sharper than a human’s.

“Abyss is researching humans, but that doesn’t mean she has to target you. She might go after any human she comes across.”

Part 7

(Sweets Circuit 32)

Step by step, the “thing” shaped like a girl and known as Abyss climbed the stairs and reached yet another floor.

The entire space was filled with a cloyingly sweet aroma.

On this level of the Labyrinth, the walls, floor, and ceiling were all made out of sweets. The table in a corner of the room was a cheesecake and the chairs placed around it were colorful macarons. The doors irregularly dotting the walls were chocolate panels and the chandelier dangling from the ceiling was a large donut.

“...?”

She tilted her head on the spot with the red warning signals still flashing across her body.

Everything was a new experience to that ultimate weapon. The data gathered by her various sensors were converted into actual “points” in the blink of an eye and she used those to learn new Magic.

But she did have thoughts outside of those purely logical ones.

Now, were those thoughts something a machine should have?

With the metal wheel attached to her back and many weapons connected to that by the arms, Abyss slowly crouched down. She poked at one of the macaron stools, tilted her head, twitched her ears which were spread out like red glowing sails, and pushed her index finger into the sandwiched cream section.

She looked at the cream on her fingertip and tilted her head again.

She held it up to her shapely nose, sniffed, and stuck her small tongue out from between her lips.

But she stopped before touching her tongue tip to the cream.

Something fluttered over.

The object was as large as the girl’s palm and it was a butterfly with bright yellow wings. It was not a Gimmick modeled after such a creature. It was an actual lifeform that had wandered in here somehow.

Abyss silently tilted her head.

She slowly reached out her empty hand, but the butterfly showed no sign of caution as it attempted to suck up the cream with its long, skinny proboscis.

What would happen if she touched it?

What would occur if she captured it?

It was possible not even Abyss herself knew. And that was not a problem. She was an unmanned weapon that learned, so she would indiscriminately absorb everything before her. She might be able to learn something from this yellow butterfly and that might cause her to take a different branch in her path. That was a possible future.

But it never happened.

The macaron stool was obliterated before her eyes.

She had not done it.

Another voice reached her as she tilted her head.

“Hey, look! There’s a new one! Wow, I’ve never seen that Gimmick before!!”

“Let’s destroy it and take all its Gears!!”

“Damn, I bet a video alone would be pretty valuable!”

Their opponent was not alive, so they could destroy it without a second thought.

That had been the standard for so long that they did not hesitate.

In a way, that may have been the obvious conclusion.

But they had chosen a poor opponent this time.

Abyss stared at the destroyed macaron stool. It was unclear what had happened to the butterfly. Then she slowly stood up. Red light extended from her ankles like an orca or dolphin’s tail fins. Two strands of silver hair fell over the front of her body and a never-before-seen magic circle glowed above her head like an angel’s halo. She recalled her original task.

The sinister red wavered and the crude arms wriggled on her back.

If she touched them, they would break.

No matter who it was, she could break them.

That hopeless truth of the world had just been demonstrated before her eyes.

Part 8

(Sweets Circuit 32)

They finally reached a floor they recognized.

“Sweets Circuit 32. ...We’re already this high up?”

That meant Filinion’s encyclopedia obsession and Armelina’s map obsession would actually help them. Once they knew the layout, they could use the location of the stairway up to get ahead of and cut off Abyss’s path. The Gimmicks wandering around would also be down to a reasonable level of strength. They could move at their own pace and they could actually make the preparations needed to get the upper hand.

However.

That was not something to celebrate at the moment.

“Gyah! Gyah! Gyaaaahh!!”

“Wait! You’re kidding, right!? What the hell is thiiiiiiis!?”

“Helf!! Nooo!! How ish it cansheling our eshcafe Magiiiic!?”

The second they set foot on that floor, screams and shouts pummeled their eardrums.

With no challenging Gimmicks around, Abyss had naturally shifted her focus to the humans. And Abyss was powerful enough to trample on a group of four level cappers. The damage would only spread explosively from here.

“Filinion, prepare as many recovery potions as you can!!”

“Oh, honestly! You can pretend to be a philanthropist if you want, but don’t come crying to me when we’re out of materials later on!!”

“Armelina, Wildefrau, get ready! Make loud noises to draw Abyss’s attention!!”

“If you insist.”

“I’m really not sure which of us is the hunter and which is the prey...!”

“And Boo Boo.”

Beatrice paused before asking him something.

“...We aren’t wrong here, are we?”

“You are absolutely doing the right thing, Beatrice.”

The ball of light at the end of her rapier caused no damage and only produced a great cacophony.

They immediately heard the mechanical sound of lenses focusing in on them.

A Pure Knight man received a colorful test tube from Filinion, leaned against the wall because his leg was not functioning, and spat out a comment.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but that thing’s using the same tech as the Divulging Eyeball! It can see your Elemental Weakness, so be careful!!”

Had she absorbed and learned something else?

Wind roared passed them like when a train passed through a subway station. Abyss had new armor and boosters which she used to charge toward Beatrice. Boo Boo threw an all-out kick at her from the side. Her path changed at a right angle and she noisily crashed into the wall.

“Let’s keep the attacks coming, Wildefrau!!”

“Understood!!”

Fire and ice. Opposing magic circles glowed and a thick barrage of multiple Elements flew in from a distance.

However...

“Reflection: Abyss selects the Water Element for her reflection setting.”

“Dammit!!!???”

Their own attack was sent right back toward them. And with a curtain of explosive flames obscuring their surroundings, it took longer to notice than it should have.

Armelina forced her way in and changed her metal staff into a small boat meant for crushing. She held it like a shield and sparks flew from it as it just barely prevented Beatrice’s death.

Abyss was unharmed. Not even the long ears spread out like red glowing sails were scratched.

The metal wheel positioned behind her back still had its crude arms and heavy weaponry spread out like angel wings, but she now had additional floating armor that resembled long, transparent shields on the front of her legs.

“It isn’t just the eyeball monster. Did she also cannibalize the Crystal Pillar of Regret!?”

“More importantly, Beatrice, keep your hands moving! With your Magic...”

“Reflection: Abyss selects the Fire Element for her reflection setting.”

“...you can melt the candy walls and dump them on her, right!?”

With a roar, the magic circle on Beatrice’s back glowed and flames wrapped around her rapier.

The chocolate and sugar sculpture ceiling of Sweets Circuit 32 melted away and poured down on Abyss like a waterfall. It was like dropping a monster into a blast furnace. Armelina snapped her fingers. That seemed to be enough for the Ice Waterfall Princess to understand because she sent in some ferocious blizzard Magic. The supposedly melted sugar and chocolate instantly solidified into a block.

Whether it was made of steel or cotton candy, 100 tons was 100 tons.

Armelina poked her head out from behind her steel boat shield.

“Did that finally-...”

“Abyss is using Magic. Heavy Chainsaw: standby.”

“It wasn’t goddamn enough!?”

A violent rotating blade burst out from the very top. Then a vertical line was sliced from within and heavily-equipped Abyss emerged.

“...!! Metal Jet!!”

“Ah, wait, Beatrice!!”

Filinion’s warning was too late.

“Reflection.”

As soon as the orange lines of heat struck the tall shields in front of her legs, they reflected every which way. Boo Boo grabbed nearby Wildefrau’s waist and dove to the floor.

“Squeal!!”

“Y-you have my thanks...”

The walls and ceiling had melted.

Abyss looked around. Once her observation was complete, she wordlessly lit the boosters on her back. Her slender body and heavy weaponry broke the bonds of gravity and floated up, but that was not her goal.

Her basic logic functioned on the basis of learning and action.

So if she had found a new tactic, she would try to reproduce it to acquire the data needed to know if it was effective, if she could do it, and if it was worth the cost.

The blast of fire from the boosters transformed a large section of the floor into a soft marsh.

“Oh, no. She’s planning to fly around melting the entire floor! Run!!”

Part 9

(Temptation 14)

They could not let her melt Sweets Circuit 32 when there were so many injured people there. Boo Boo’s group used his log or steel beam of a Shining Weapon to make a lot of noise as they fled and lured Abyss up to the next floor.

“Well, this sure is damn effective... It might be worth trying this ‘burying alive’ strategy ourselves at some point.”

“What are we supposed to do? The more power we draw out, the more she absorbs.”

They reached a floor with pastel colored walls, loose decorative cloths hanging near the ceiling, and girly beds and stuffed animals found here and there.

Abyss blasted her boosters a few times, but this floor did not melt. She looked around, wiggled her long ears which were spread out like red glowing sails, and then switched off the boosters to set foot back on the ground. The red light once more extended from her ankles like an orca or dolphin’s tail fins and the arms holding the heavy weaponry once more spread out from her back.

“Wow, she’s back to predator mode!”

“Perfect. Armelina, prepare the map. Wildefrau, I need your help too. Once you find the stairway up, destroy it so she can’t get through. We can’t let her climb any higher than this.”

Stopping Abyss was crucial, but the shields in front of her legs could reflect up to two Elements coming from the same direction.

There were only 3 ways of getting an effective attack in on her:

1. Attack head-on with 3 or more Elements.

2. Hit her with Magic from more than one direction simultaneously.

3. Don’t use Magic in the first place.

“Boo!!”

With a manly snort, the nearly-4m giant charged straight toward Abyss. But that was not enough to win. Abyss accurately locked onto Boo Boo with the countless heavy weaponry spread out like angel wings and the strange magic circle glowed brighter over her head.

Wildefrau opened and closed the fingers of her ice lantern shield from behind him.

“Reflection: Abyss selects the Water-...”

Those words did not matter.

Instead of relying on ice Magic, she swung the giant fist down on a nearby girly bed, destroying it. She then grabbed the wood materials and threw them.

Those were no more than wood, so they had nothing to do with the Water Element.

The sharp splinters passed over Boo Boo’s shoulder and mercilessly collided with Abyss’s forehead. The impact snapped her head back, and when she lowered her head again...

This time, Boo Boo really did raise his Shining Weapon from straight ahead. He twisted his hips horizontally for an attack similar to a full swing with a metal baseball bat.

Abyss’s small body was sent flying back through the large room.

Her back slammed into the wall where she remained motionless.

“Metal Jet!!”

The magic circle on Beatrice’s back exploded as she released her Magic and sent 8 lines down a different path, where they shredded and destroyed the stairs up to the next floor.

The situation could not be much worse, but they had sealed the way up. If they could find a way to defeat Abyss while she was stuck here...

“No, wait a second. Something isn’t right...”

“What, there’s more? Hey, wait!?”

Abyss remained pinned to the wall and did not fall down to the floor. No, she had stabbed her own heavy weaponry arms into the wall to hold herself in place. In fact...

“Abyss is destroying the Labyrinth’s wall.”

The wall behind the ultimate weapon was blown away.

And there was more than just a room on the other side.

It was the secret pit which was made to not connect with any of the floors or rooms.

It was the central shaft.

The shortest route to the surface.

“The final physical test has achieved adequate results. No errors detected. All values are within tolerable levels. Abyss will end the test and begin final deployment for Priority 1.”

The boosters produced explosive flames.

It was all over if she used that to blast up through the shaft.

Beatrice would have no way of catching up.

And once Abyss reached the surface, two worlds would end.

“Wai-...”

Beatrice immediately aimed her Shining Weapon rapier, but a simple Magic attack from head-on would only be reflected.

Meanwhile, Abyss slipped into the central shaft through the hole she had created.

That was checkmate.

Once she increased her boosters to full power, she would fly straight to the surface.

Or she should have.

However.

A moment later, the heavy weaponry which was spread out like angel wings and Abyss’s own right shoulder were mercilessly sliced through.

Something had fallen down the central shaft.

It was a red Holy Swordswoman wielding a wicked, patched-together Shining Weapon. She looked a lot like Beatrice.

“The...Sage...?”

No more words were needed between the two reds.

They simply exchanged a look.

And after the Sage’s scorching blade sliced through Abyss’s right booster like a hot knife through butter, the destroyed booster triggered a dreadfully powerful explosion. Explosive flames and shockwaves scattered and the Sage vanished. She had fallen back into the darkness.

But.

Even after that, Abyss did not fall.

She had lost one booster, her right arm and many of the arms on her back had been severed, and she did not seem able to maintain her balance. The same cables and small gears seen in Gimmicks spilled from the cut areas and her body scraped against the central shaft’s wall.

But even then, the left booster ignited once more.

This time, she obtained the powerful vector needed to reach the surface.

Beatrice heard a loud noise from nearby.

A gray pig-faced giant was running toward the hole in the wall.

“Boo Boo!?”

He did not look back.

He grabbed one of the long cloths decorating the ceiling, tore it off, and leaped into the hole with the cloth in hand.

He wrapped the cloth around Abyss’s neck and the remaining heavy weaponry arms, clung to it, and dangled down from her.

Part 10

(Central Shaft)

Abyss had no trouble despite the nearly-4m mass of muscle clinging to her from behind. She blasted her booster even stronger and tried to roast Boo Boo as he desperately held on.

“Gh, hhh...!!”

Nevertheless, he refused to let go of the decorative cloth tangled around her neck and back arms. He pressed his legs against the central shaft’s wall and dug in to forcibly slow her down.

An unpleasant straining sound came from her slender neck.

Perhaps because she was modeled after the structure of the human body, she could not see directly behind her.

She finally decided to seriously throw Boo Boo off, so the heavy weaponry on her back gave a roar. But the cloth wrapped around them got in the way, so she could not control them like she wanted. As a result, the light stabbed at his eyes and the noise pounded at his ears, but that was all. Even Boo Boo pulled his head down as intense lines of heat and bullets passed right by him.

Abyss remained entirely unfazed even as she struggled so hard she seemed on the verge of breaking her own neck.

She blasted the booster at full power, causing the cloth to dig even further into her neck, and she kept her eyes pointed upwards. She extended her remaining left arm toward the unseen heavens as if trying to grasp something.

“Stop, Abyss...”

Boo Boo clung to her with all his might and forced his voice out through his clenched teeth.

“Don’t go any higher! Stop here! If you do, we won’t have to destroy you!!”

Boo Boo had no clue why Abyss sought the surface so intently or why her creator had wanted this kind of destruction.

But.

He saw a sort of sincerity in the way Abyss reached her remaining arm upwards despite the strain on her body. Did she have some reason to break these bonds and continue on? Was approaching the heavens necessary for her goal? He felt those silent questions inside him.

Something fluttered by.

The brightly colored object was a butterfly the size of the girl’s palm.

How had it wandered in here?

And it almost looked like Abyss was forcing her body beyond its limits to reach out toward that butterfly.

She could not reach it.

She knew that.

It was like an innocent girl had been thrown into a well and was trying to grab the moon in the night sky.

Her hand seemed to reach into the emptiness in search of air as if trying to escape the sticky darkness of the abyss.

If so, that was sad.

Abyss had never been completed before. Every time she got close, Boo Boo’s fellow Iberian Orcs had apparently gone deep underground and destroyed her. She had failed like that again and again and her form and functionality had changed each time, but she had never forgotten her goal and she was finally on the verge of achieving it.

But if she succeeded, it was all over.

There were so many pretty things outside, but she could never see them. As soon as she reached the surface she so greatly desired, everything in that outside world would be destroyed.

It was like wanting to see what the world looked like from within a bubble and thus opening it up like a treasure chest to find the answer.

It was ultimately impossible.

The instant you touched the bubble, it would burst and the view from within would be forever lost.

That may have been a false desire placed inside her.

It may have been no more than something meant to more efficiently guide her toward her goal.

But.

Even so.

“I will crush your dream,” said Boo Boo as he tugged on the decorative cloth.

The Iberian Orcs were no more. No one could give him the answer. But he felt like he understood how his ancestors had felt as they continued to fight Abyss.

Her destiny was a sad one. Anyone would be miserable if they were forced to bear it.

So the most he could do was prevent her from sullying her innocent hands.

No matter how dangerous it was, he would come running if he could do that.

“But I will protect your desire. I will protect the beautiful landscape you wanted to see!!”

An odd staticky sound followed.

It did not come from Boo Boo. Nor from Abyss. It came from the central shaft’s walls.

Then a gentle feminine synthesized voice spoke.

“Abyss is eliminating the enemy. Purging all back weaponry. Removing the objects on which the cloth is caught will allow her freedom of movement once more.”

The halo-like magic circle above her head emitted an even more sinister light.

He would not reach her. In the end, he would not reach her.

Boo Boo clenched his teeth so hard he thought they would crack.

But then something strange happened.

The heavy weaponry on Abyss’s back caused a great din as they fired blindly. And yet she had to know she could not hit him.

“K-kssshhh...ksshh, ksssshhhh...”

That meant her target was not Boo Boo.

Her powerful Magic took the form of stone stakes and lines of heat as it was fired into all of the central shaft’s walls.

Was this a ritual needed for the girl to regain control of herself at the very last moment?

“...You...?”

Boo Boo held onto the cloth hanging from her neck and dangled down, but Abyss did not answer his question. She may have never had the ability to speak.

“You can’t.”

But just because she did not say it did not mean she was not thinking it.

Boo Boo had realized something.

She cared so, so, so, so much for the world that she had longed for over such a long, long time.

And there was only one way to protect it.

“There has to be another way! Another way to stop you!! So don’t give up!! You mustn’t do this!!”

And as his weight pulled back on her neck, Abyss looked back toward him.

Boo Boo desperately tried to interpret the meaning of that glance.

Oddly, he felt like he saw a smile in those cold, mechanical eyes.

A moment later, an unpleasant sound shook the air.

Turning her head with Boo Boo’s weight on her neck had been too much for her skeleton.

It happened with such ease that he had to question it.

Abyss’s remaining booster died. She had seemed like such a massive barrier, but all strength left her body. It all readily vanished or went limp: the crude arms on her back, the glowing red tail fins on her ankles, the two strands of silver hair dangling in front of her body, and the never-before-seen magic circle floating over her head like an angel’s halo. Even the red warning signals went dark across her body. And yet she had failed to reach the surface or even grab the yellow butterfly fluttering overhead.

Boo Boo grabbed onto a protruding section of the wall with one hand, but he could not bring himself to let go of the decorative cloth still tangled around the wreckage. He did not have it in him to let that fall into the pit.

Her single action had protected two worlds.

There was no such thing as a doll that could commit suicide.

So in a way, this may have been proof of intelligence.

“Squeal...”

But Boo Boo clenched his teeth for a while.

He held the slender, unmoving girl in one hand and spoke.

“You moron. That isn’t proof that you’re smart.”

Between the Lines 3

What does the twinkling of the stars look like?

What do the songs of the little birds sound like?

What do the red fruits taste like?

What do the flowers smell like?

What does this fluffy thing feel like?

I can access everything in Ground’s Nir and gather all forms of data. But I have nothing myself. I am an almighty existence with no actual experience. I am a complete amateur and an expert who knows all. I am trapped in here and I can reach anywhere from here.

I want a physical form. I want to touch the real thing.

...And I want something to surprise me.

I wanted to learn that the real thing isn’t what I thought. I wanted to find out that you cannot reach the truth of the world just by receiving digital data. I wanted to realize the world is far larger, brighter, and filled with surprises than I could ever predict. I wanted to be taught there are miracles out there that numerical calculations can never comprehend.

But if opening the box would only reveal the cat’s corpse...

If touching the living world would cause the bubble to burst...

If I would never be able to see it...

Then I will go no further.

And thank you, he who saved my dream.

I am happy.

Because you taught me one thing from the world that I could ultimately never see: the meaning of happiness.