Chapter 294: Magnetism (Patreon)

"The night gave me black eyes, and I use them to seek the light. But seriously, this is way too bright in here."

After the calamity beast bit clean through Geroy's mechanical arms and Hans's bucket, the black curtain that had flickered across Geno's vision vanished again.

The pale blue glow closed in around him once more, and Geno's face twisted with worry.

Not worry for himself. He was worried that Geroy and the others could get away from the beast's attacks.

As for Geno, he was still trying to grab the Tailless that had answered him.

"Almost there, just a little bit more... Waaaah!"

Geno kept straining his arm toward Tailless's hilt, only a pinch away from it, when the world suddenly spun. The calamity beast seemed to be doing something big.

"Are you doing acrobatics?! Stop shaking, I get carsick!!"

His eyes spun in circles. The nonstop lurching had left him thoroughly miserable.

As for why this was happening, you'd have to ask Hans and the others.

After the beast crushed the bucket and Geroy's arms, Geroy immediately put some distance between them. He was in tatters, but at least he could still move.

The beast had wanted to chase Geroy down as he fell back, but the trio clinging to its body had left it somewhat hampered.

After all, those things didn't so much hurt it as disgust it, just like when it had a big bucket shoved into its mouth earlier.

Was the damage high? Not really.

Was the insult high? Extremely!

Now that Greta and the others had latched on, a few hundred extra tons had appeared on its body out of nowhere, and nobody would find that pleasant. Shaking them off was more of a struggle than it looked, and burning them off would take a while. It was irritating in the extreme.

Then again, it had only just been born, it was starving, and it had already fought two battles. It was really starting to run out of steam.

But then again, it had finally gotten that little dessert called Geno into its mouth. Now all it had to do was wait for him to digest.

In contrast, the three machines of Hans's group on its back were in far worse shape. To restrict the beast's movement, they had held on to it with locked joints through the frost-flame, and now their bodies had been burned into a heap of scrap metal. There was barely an intact part left on them.

"Well, this is bad. But we prepared for this from the start, so it's fine."

Hans's voice rang out, and the beast's condition explained what he meant.

From the very beginning, Hans and the others had locked their mechanisms in place. Even if they lost control of their bodies, the latches they'd set beforehand wouldn't release easily.

Unless the beast's frost-flame burned right through them, but that would take time.

And buying time was exactly what they had set out to do.

"I just wonder if Sister Grace can fix us this time."

"I don't think she can. This time, we might not even have our logic cores left."

It looked like they were talking to themselves, but really the three minds were talking among themselves.

After all, to save time, they had merged their systems into one.

"Boo-hoo-hoo, I'll never see Sister Grace again. It's kind of lonely to think about."

That was Greta.

"Yeah. And Big Brother Anton and the rest, too. I really wanted to sweat it out with them on the construction site again."

That was Hans.

"This one falls for the greater cause. Surely the world shall remember us."

That was Friday.

Just as the three machines had steeled themselves to sacrifice everything, someone refused to let them die like this.

Vrrrooom!!!

The roar of an engine echoed through the night sky. Smoke and dust kicked up from behind as Geroy's treads spun at full speed, charging straight at the beast.

Seeing this, the beast instinctively wanted to spit fire in response. But remembering how Geno had bonked it on the head twice earlier, it shuddered and dropped the idea.

So it lowered its stance, ready to meet Geroy head-on with the sheer strength of its body.

On one side was a body of superior quality formed from Ether. On the other, a battered lump of scrap. You didn't need to think hard to know who would win.

The beast thought so too. It had the advantage this round, so why not fight?

So it didn't even dodge. It simply waited for Geroy to come at it.

Meanwhile, Geroy's refusal to give up, to abandon anyone, moved the three machines on the beast's back deeply.

"Big Brother Geroy!!"

"He's really... I'm dying, I'm crying!"

"My tears just won't stop."

They chattered on without end. It got on the beast's nerves, so it gave its body a casual shake and prepared to charge at Geroy.

It stepped forward on all four limbs. Its agile frame looked a little bloated because of the passengers on its back, but its speed didn't drop at all as it rushed toward Geroy.

Geroy did the same. His body had already succumbed to the frost-flame's Corruption and his arms had long since snapped, yet he still launched his charge! It was a Don Quixote charge.

Right now, Geroy looked like a gallant knight! And his chivalry would never be buried by something as trivial as bodily damage!

Geroy was no longer just a tool. He had transcended his mechanical body and gained a soul all his own!

This was a true knight!

Anyone standing here would have praised Geroy without hesitation as a fearless knight.

Even his opponent, the calamity beast, felt the same. It didn't understand what a knight was, but it admired Geroy's willingness to give himself up for others, so it decided to grant him a decent way to die.

The distance between them closed faster and faster, and just before impact, Geroy suddenly turned his body aside.

Wait. Doesn't this scene look familiar?

Somewhere in the calamity beast's not-so-plump brain, a memory of what had happened earlier surfaced.

Geroy had slid off its face with the same dashing grace, and then Geno had ended up inside its head.

And then it had taken a heavy hammer blow.

But this time the beast was certain he had nothing on him. Even his weapon systems had been burned to nothing. So what was the point of doing this?

Was he planning to hit it with another hammer?

He'd need to have a hammer first, wouldn't he?

And while the beast was busy wondering what Geroy was up to, time kept flowing.

Our knight's move was anything but pointless. He had lost his arms and his weapon systems, but that didn't mean he had no way to save the three machines.

The core energy reactor in his chest was running at full tilt. Besides supplying enough energy for his whole body to move, Geroy was converting the surplus into electricity.

And when it came to electricity, there was one force you simply couldn't get around.

Magnetism.