Ch.288The Switch (8)

As the federal forces were pressuring the Order more than in any previous iteration, Ireh thought the Holy Maiden would be defeated without being able to use her power.

It was a naive judgment.

The Magnus Order hadn’t been unable to use their power; they had been secretly hiding and plotting their operation.

“……”

Eidel’s gaze swept across the control monitor. The ships brought by the Order had half-destroyed the upper section of the particle accelerator.

The terror was still continuing.

“……those bastards.”

Eidel’s voice was quiet yet heavy.

This was only the second time Ireh had seen him so angry, including a few weeks ago when he was almost harassed by those men. Ireh followed behind Eidel as he moved forward.

“Oh, you can’t go that way!”

Eidel was moving against the evacuation flow. The inspectors’ attempts to stop him were futile. He had already half lost his reason to anger.

The Order didn’t know what happens when you mess with a senior graduate student facing their dissertation defense.

“Where is the Virgin Constellation?”

“She’s in the central sector. Don’t worry. She’ll move soon.”

“If she starts moving now, it’s too late.”

“What are you planning to do?”

“I’m going there myself.”

“You can’t! It’s dangerous!”

“Don’t try to stop me.”

Debris fell from the ceiling. The alarm was blaring loudly. The situation wasn’t good. Ireh knew how to turn this situation around.

And Eidel likely knew as well.

That was why Ireh wasn’t trying to stop Eidel. If anything were to happen, she would protect him. She said:

“We’ll take care of the young master, so please don’t worry, inspectors.”

“Please evacuate the other researchers first.”

Ireh and Sonia mimicked each other as they forcibly sent the inspectors away.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Of course.”

“The young master won’t try to escape no matter what happens. Let’s protect him.”

Judging by his expression, Eidel had made up his mind. He already had his calipers in hand. Sonia and Ireh looked at each other, nodded, and took out their calipers and holy spirit gun.

And so the three set out on their hunt.

***

Thwack!

The avatar fell. It had been quite strong, but after being hit by the calipers, it staggered and then fainted weakly.

‘Impossible.’

The Holy Maiden was shocked.

‘He took down an avatar with one blow?’

No, it wasn’t just taken down.

The avatar that had been hit once got up again, whimpering, but had become docile. It didn’t even listen to the Holy Maiden’s orders and went to a corner, trembling.

It wasn’t physical damage but mental harm. It had been subjugated.

‘The power of Descartes.’

Now she knew for certain. Just as she had a foreign god of the Maxwell system, Eidel von Rheinland had a foreign god of the Descartes system.

“Rheinland is over there! Catch him!”

Believers and monsters advanced, consumed by madness. But their attacks never reached Eidel.

As if under a spell, their bodies suddenly froze. Then, one by one, they began to fall like autumn leaves.

It wasn’t magic. Nor was it the power of a foreign god.

“Phew.”

A woman in a maid uniform blew on her gun barrel. She had put holes in the heads of believers and monsters, then smiled flatly.

The next moment.

Patabak!

A woman holding wide calipers stomped her foot. She ran along the wall as if it were the ground and charged in. A cold arc instantly aimed for the Holy Maiden’s neck.

[— Using ‘Chains of Paradise’.]

Kigigik!

The Holy Maiden pulled up chains to block the attack. The calipers and chains intertwined like a pair of snakes, emitting a harsh metallic sound.

The two women’s eyes met.

“Who… are you?”

“……”

There was no answer. The Holy Maiden clicked her tongue heavily. In any case, this was an enemy blocking her path to Idea.

The black-haired woman suddenly pulled on her calipers. The Holy Maiden’s body was pulled forward due to the chains wrapped around the omega shape. The Holy Maiden tried to release the chains, but it was too late.

Thwack!

A kick was planted in the Holy Maiden’s lower abdomen. The Holy Maiden stepped back and spat out dry saliva.

“Kahak, hak…!”

“Holy Maiden!”

“Everyone protect the Holy Maiden!”

The priests formed a formation. They took out their main weapons and aimed simultaneously. They were pulse rifles capable of secondary attacks using electric shocks.

“Fire!”

Beam bullets rushed toward Eidel. But those bullets didn’t reach him either. The girl in the maid uniform shot with precise aim, deflecting all the incoming bullets.

“I-impossible… she deflected bullets with bullets?”

“Is she even human?”

“Anyone can see she’s a combat android! Shoot! Don’t just admire, keep shooting! We need to kill her to get to Idea… huh?”

The priest who had been spitting looked around, sensing something strange.

“T-this…!”

Most of the believers were lying on the ground. They were writhing like insects hit with pesticide. Groans leaked out from everywhere.

“H-Holy Maiden. Please save us.”

“It hurts, it hurts so much. Holy Maiden, ughhhh.”

The priest’s gaze turned.

“N-no way.”

Ominous premonitions are never wrong. A bullet wrapped in starlight was flying toward his head. The last scene the priest saw was the ceiling.

Thud!

The body pierced by the bullet of light fell backward. And never got up again.

“Ah, aah…”

The Holy Maiden’s pupils trembled.

Of the three avatars that had accompanied her, two were dead, and one no longer obeyed. There was no one left to protect her.

‘What on earth is this….’

They were strong.

Different from what she had thought.

The Holy Maiden caught her breath while nursing her kicked abdomen.

‘The monsters and believers are one thing, but even the avatars were defeated… does this situation make any sense?’

She thought she had prepared thoroughly.

In fact, the initial stages had been quite successful.

She had destroyed the particle accelerator, and she believed without doubt that if she just killed Eidel von Rheinland, the foreign god would send her to Idea.

But Eidel, far from running away, had walked toward her on his own feet.

Thump, thump.

He approached the Holy Maiden with his eyes wide open.

The Holy Maiden took a step back and turned around.

“There she is, catch her!”

Inspectors were also rushing in from behind. She was surrounded from both sides. In a moment of error, she had lost everything.

“Hu, huhu.”

The corners of the Holy Maiden’s mouth stretched to her ears.

Such a mistake was a trivial matter for her.

[— Would you like to go back 30 minutes?]

The Holy Maiden’s world rewound.

***

And she was miserably defeated in the second attempt as well.

Knowing where Eidel would appear made it easy to ambush him from behind. But Eidel seemed to anticipate the surprise attack and flexibly countered, pushing the Holy Maiden back.

Thwack!

The priests fell after being hit by the calipers.

Thump, thump.

Eidel approached one step at a time.

Without blinking once while looking at the Holy Maiden.

“Kugh…”

The Holy Maiden gritted her teeth. She took out her main weapon, a whip. When she struck down hard with the whip, there was a booming sound and the floor was deeply gouged.

“Stop! If you come any closer, I’ll make you look like this floor with my ‘Iron Whip’!”

“……”

Eidel’s gaze turned to the deeply gouged floor. His eyebrows curved downward. His hawk-like sharp gaze then turned toward the Holy Maiden. The Holy Maiden flinched.

“Repair costs.”

“What?”

“I said, give me the repair costs. You don’t think you can just mess up the lab floor like this and run away, do you?”

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

The Holy Maiden raised her voice as she brandished her whip.

“There’s no negotiation or compensation with scientists.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Hey! I told you to stop!”

“You’re kicking away the chance to end this easily.”

“I’m really going to strike!”

The Holy Maiden immediately brought down her whip.

Clang!

Eidel raised his calipers to deflect it. He immediately dove into the Holy Maiden’s space.

Sensing danger, the Holy Maiden immediately rewound time.

***

Third attempt.

This time, she prioritized destroying the particle accelerator. And about two hours later, whether by chance or fate, the Holy Maiden encountered Eidel’s group.

Eidel swung his calipers to turn all the monsters into scrap metal, and just like in the previous two iterations, cornered the Holy Maiden.

The Holy Maiden rewound time.

***

Fourth attempt.

The Holy Maiden decided to avoid Eidel as much as possible. She sent scouts to monitor his movements, while she moved with her legion of monsters to destroy the central sector.

When she arrived at the scene, a single inspector was guarding the core alone.

A female inspector with an impressive golden ponytail and clear aquamarine eyes. She was as strikingly beautiful as the Holy Maiden herself.

The inspector emanated a fierce aura. That atmosphere was similar to Eidel von Rheinland’s.

The Holy Maiden carefully checked the woman’s shoulder.

Black epaulettes.

She was an Omega-rank inspector.

“Could it be… the Virgin Constellation?”

The wife of Eidel von Rheinland and the Sword Saint who had achieved great merit in the Southern Great War, becoming the youngest to reach the rank of Great Omega. Rustila von Rheinland was standing before the Holy Maiden’s eyes.

“Is it you?”

“What?”

“Are you the one who hurt my husband and his sister?”

“What are you talking about…?”

“So it was you.”

When she opened her eyes after closing them, both her arms had been cut off.

The Holy Maiden rewound time without even being able to clutch her bursting heart.

***

“Haa, haa.”

Fifth attempt.

Cold sweat poured like rain.

“Is everyone alright?”

“Ughhhh.”

Even though time was rewound, the Holy Maiden and her allies retained their memories intact. Normally this would be an unparalleled merit, but in this situation, it was a terrible side effect.

“Uweeek.”

The believers who had died at least once were dry heaving. The Holy Maiden patted their backs and said:

“Brothers and sisters, you must endure. If we overcome this trial, the foreign god will guide us to Idea…”

The Holy Maiden’s words were not completed.

Right above her head.

She sensed a presence.

The Holy Maiden was on the first floor, and the man was leaning on the second-floor railing, looking down at her.

“Please continue. What about Idea?”

The Holy Maiden’s shoulders stiffened. At this point, she began to sense something strange.

They hadn’t even introduced themselves, and this was supposed to be their first meeting in this iteration. Yet Eidel acted as if he knew she was behind all this.