Ch.304Iron Fortress Sturm (4)

“What did you just say?”

“The Queen is in here.”

Eidel put his hand on the trap’s safety lock.

“You don’t seem to believe me. I’ll show you now.”

“No, you idiot! You don’t need to show me!”

“Here we go. Ta-da-da ta-ta-ta ta-ta-ta.”

“Don’t do it!”

Crack!

As soon as the safety lock was released, the trap began to crack.

“No!”

Swoosh.

A foreign god in human form sprang out of the thrown trap.

It was a female form with dark blue hair and red eyes. Despite her elegant appearance, her aura was decadent and eerie.

Queen Aurore.

This was the moment when the highest Darwin-system god, who had been inexplicably defeated in the Great War, revealed herself once again.

“Please, no more strange experiments…”

The Queen, muttering, sensed something strange and looked around. Two familiar faces entered her vision.

One was her old nemesis, the Steel Foreign God, Shterm.

The other was Eidel von Rheinland, who had become her mortal enemy after just one war.

“Eidel von Rheinland…!”

Boom.

The ground shook as the space transformed. Murderous intent poured from the Queen’s eyes.

“How dare you, HOW DARE YOU toy with me! Today you shall pay the price! I will personally mince you into pieces and use you as fertilizer for our forces!”

Crash!

Aurore charged forward, kicking off the ground.

“Huh, wait!”

“I’ll make you birth as many as you’ve killed! Prepare yourself!”

Eidel rummaged through his pockets and pulled something out.

“That’s…!”

Matonica’s jaw dropped.

What Eidel had taken out was the Steel Foreign God’s invitation that she had given him through trickery.

“He clearly said he lost it!”

The Steel letter was a one-time artifact that allowed free access to the null space. In other words, Eidel could escape this space without penalty.

An unexpected situation.

“I need to go buy formula for the babies. So, goodbye.”

“Stop right there!”

Black starlight enveloped Eidel’s body. Then his form vanished without a trace.

The Queen’s blade, covered in flesh, sliced through empty air. Having lost her enemy right before her eyes, Aurore let out an enraged scream.

“AAAAARGH! I’LL KILL YOU!”

Swish swish.

Tentacles made of blood and entrails rose from the floor. These grotesque things, shaped like the wide mouths of balloon eels, half-swallowed Shterm’s main force.

Space collided with space.

Domain met domain.

Steel sky and fleshy ground. Aurore gritted her teeth and looked up at the sky.

“Iron fortress, you too. You’re the same. I cannot forgive you.”

“I don’t know what you’re suddenly talking about.”

“This one and that one, all playing innocent. Ah, right. You were always like that, weren’t you? Someone who could stab me in the back and still act shamelessly.”

Shterm sensed that things had gone terribly wrong.

How could Eidel have released the Queen?

It was as if he knew perfectly well that Shterm and the Queen were mortal enemies.

But it was fine.

He just needed to turn back time.

However, he couldn’t.

[─ Causality fixed]

“What is this…?”

He couldn’t rewind time.

It was a signal that the end was approaching.

Even so, the timing was terrible.

Growl.

In just a few seconds, Aurore had gathered blood to create tens of thousands of monsters and was now glaring at Shterm with murderous intent.

“I’ll kill you first and then rebuild my forces.”

“Wait, how about listening to me? We both have Eidel von Rheinland as a common enemy, so if we cooperate…”

“Cooperation? Don’t make me laugh.”

The Queen sneered.

“I won’t even speak with someone who backstabs as a habit.”

“…You’ll regret that decision.”

At Shterm’s signal, foreign gods in mechanical forms sprang out from everywhere. All were his family and comrades, and at minimum, they were high-ranking gods.

Kekeke.

The Steel forces looked down at the Queen and emitted hideous laughter.

“How unpleasant.”

The Queen’s movements were fast.

Boom!

Several foreign gods at the front were caught by tentacles and thrown down. As soon as they touched the ground, the flesh on the ground opened its voracious mouth.

AAAAH!

The screams of foreign gods being chewed by teeth echoed through the space.

It happened in an instant. The ferocity of the Darwin system, which could devour even metal, was enough to break the spirit of some weaker foreign gods. The Queen spoke:

“There is not a single patch of ground for you to stand on. This place is now my rightful territory.”

“Negotiations have failed, I see.”

“Negotiations? Was there ever such a thing?”

It was always like this. There was simply no reasoning with Darwin’s forces.

Shterm also changed his gaze and aimed his lower turrets.

The King of Rage and Finale clashed.

***

[─ You have used the invitation.]

[─ The invitation has expired. The artifact will automatically disappear.]

I knew this would happen. It was a one-way ticket.

“Eidel!”

“Honey, are you hurt?”

“I’m fine.”

I informed everyone that the operation was successful.

I don’t know if releasing the Queen we had worked so hard to capture was the right choice. But if asked whether it was the best choice, I could answer without hesitation: “Yes.”

It was hard enough dealing with the Queen, but facing the Steel Foreign God too?

Impossible.

Fighting two wars here would have completely evaporated our research funds.

“Now let’s go inform the school.”

With the Queen suddenly gone, there was a high possibility that Stellarium would fall into chaos. We needed to reveal the truth before that happened.

“You’re saying a foreign god appeared in the west and released the Queen?”

“Yes, Chancellor.”

“Why did you handle such a matter on your own?”

“It was the best option.”

“Hmph!”

Naturally, I didn’t receive any praise.

I got a good scolding first. The conversation only started after that.

“A Maxwell-system foreign god was preparing to invade. The Federation is suffering severe post-war trauma, so sending the Queen to stop them was the only option.”

“Even so, releasing a dangerous foreign god without consultation…”

“I’ll take responsibility.”

“You absolutely must.”

In conclusion, this fact was not disclosed to the public. It was because of the reputation I had built up and because I had communicated well with government officials.

Of course, the government couldn’t cover up everything.

Rumors that I had released the Queen began to spread through personal media channels.

[Eidel von Rheinland Releases Highest Darwin-system Foreign God]

[(Exclusive) CCTV Footage Obtained! Rheinland Entering Research Lab to Release the Queen!]

[Shocking Truth About the Rheinland Family Head! Actually an Avatar of the Laplace Foreign God?]

Why did I release the Queen?

People who didn’t know the inside story offered their speculations, and the most popular theory was that I was a puppet of Laplace.

[It doesn’t make sense that the Rheinland family head, who was the main hero of the Great War victory, would suddenly release an enemy. It’s not like releasing a prisoner. In my opinion, doing something so contradictory suggests he must be a foreign god from another force.]

“Huh.”

I turned off the screen because it was so absurd.

Me, a foreign god? Cartesia in my head would laugh.

The criticism against me continued for days.

I was enduring it silently while continuing my life as a postdoctoral researcher.

Pwooo.

Matonica appeared with the now-familiar trumpet sound.

“Eidel von Rheinland!”

She looked a mess, as if she had just been through an intense battle.

“I treated you kindly, and this is how you stab me in the back?”

“Backstab? When did we ever?”

“Oh, so that’s how you’re going to play it…”

Thud!

Matonica planted her flagpole in the ground. She blew her trumpet repeatedly. The notes harmonized to create a melody.

“I’ll personally show you how powerful the ability to control metal can be!”

Matonica’s face twisted with ecstasy.

“Sonia, Ireh unnie! Watch Eidel!”

“Understood.”

Rustila, Ireh, and Sonia simultaneously assumed battle positions. I also drew my calipers with Zernya by my side.

[─ Avatar ‘Matonica’ is using <Steel Orchestra>!]

“It’s customary to start with a solo. But for a duet… yes, you!”

Matonica pointed her trumpet like a baton at the laboratory computer. The monitor began to move with a clattering sound.

Rrrip.

The wires were torn out. Arms and legs grew.

“Damn it!”

That was the new computer I had just bought to celebrate getting my doctorate. I had spent all of yesterday transferring research data and programs!

But it didn’t end there.

“Trio!”

Next was the air conditioner.

“Quartet!”

And after that, the refrigerator transformed into a monster.

All electrically-powered machines were falling one by one into Matonica’s hands.

“Shall we start the performance?”

Matonica raised her flagpole. Simultaneously, monsters rushed in from all directions.

“Eidel! Fall back!”

Rustila cut down the monsters one by one. It felt like my heart was being cut along with them.

While Ireh applied buffs and Rustila defended from the front, Sonia slipped into Matonica’s blind spot.

“This ends now.”

“Does it really?”

“…!”

Matonica’s head turned 180 degrees. Making eye contact with Sonia, she shouted in a voice filled with madness:

“Next, you!”

“Ugh!”

Sonia staggered.

“Even if part of you has been changed to a bio-module, you’re not completely human, are you? Too bad, as long as your origin is mechanical, you’re also subject to my control.”

Matonica pointed her flagpole at me.

“Now, attack him in the way you do best.”