Ch.307307. Arrangement

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Creating weapons requires more effort than one might think.

Physics, thermodynamics, chemistry…

Of course, most of it merely copies results already established in other research fields, but nonetheless, bringing all these elements together to create a proper result ultimately falls on the researcher. It’s certainly not something that can be accomplished without capability.

In that sense, Professor Klein takes considerable pride in his work.

[…What did he just say?]

It was probably in this context that his voice immediately turned cold upon hearing Darwood Campbell’s declaration.

No matter how brazenly he usually carries himself, Professor Klein is fundamentally a researcher who takes pride in his creations. He couldn’t possibly be pleased.

“No.”

But, regardless of that.

The man who had first uttered those words continued speaking without so much as blinking.

After all, if such pride was built on data extracted by grinding up living people, there would be no need to respect it.

“I told you. These pieces of junk you’ve created are nothing compared to this.”

“…”

Professor Klein’s face twitched.

Of course, having spoken with Professor Mobius, he hadn’t intended to go easy from the start. This guy seems to have a talent for digging his own grave with his mouth.

[Do whatever you want.]

They say when a person becomes extremely angry, their mind becomes completely cold.

Judging by Professor Klein’s demeanor, which contained not so much rage as utter resignation, that saying was clearly not wrong.

After dryly uttering that sentence, Professor Klein immediately slammed the red button on the control panel.

Simultaneously, a cyborg armed with various close-combat weapons emerged from one of the gates installed inside the dome.

Though smaller than the sacred artifact-based automatons operated in the Otherworld, it consequently felt less massive but exuded an impression of being developed solely for human slaughter.

The entire body was powered by transistors made of rare metals, hydraulic pistons, and numerous circuits for remote control.

As a result, it was a machine capable of moving at terrifying speeds, possibly reaching the speed of sound.

It was clearly an opponent that would slice apart a human with sealed “demonic energy” before they could even breathe.

So, that was truly a certainty, but…

“-Hah.”

Darwood sighed deeply.

‘-Well, well.’

Alpha, watching from the control room, inwardly snickered at such blatant disrespect.

Well, he was originally somewhat unpleasant, but now his entire body was practically oozing with an attitude meant to irritate the other side.

Glancing at Professor Klein, it was evident that beyond anger, he was bewildered by such an attitude.

Most likely, the cyborg walking out there now was clearly giving off an extraordinary aura.

“…You put quite some effort into making this.”

“All that trouble just to secure a budget-“

Though his tone wasn’t friendly, even the professors of the Demonic Spire in the control room would agree that this wasn’t an opponent to be taken lightly.

Nevertheless, that guy…

‘Why doesn’t he look tense at all?’

-Alpha inwardly chuckled again, reading Professor Klein’s expression that clearly conveyed this thought.

‘…No, even so.’

Of course, he didn’t particularly want to disrespect Klein, who was part of the Demonic Spire faculty. After all, the abilities of people who had risen to this level were genuine, regardless of their character or personality.

But hadn’t that man repeatedly said something before coming here?

‘Pride topples even iron fortresses.’

Because they only look upward, they must have filtered out detailed analysis of Darwood Campbell.

Even without “demonic energy,” the foundation of abilities that man could wield wasn’t limited to just that.

For example, the scene unfolding before their eyes would be a good illustration.

–!!

The sound of pistons vigorously pumping throughout the cyborg’s body resonated, signaling its action.

Sonic speed, perhaps supersonic, maybe even beyond. Science pushed to its limits, almost indistinguishable from magic, makes even such feats possible. Then, the cyborg’s body moves. It reaches right in front of Darwood Campbell in an instant.

It’s an insane speed where the process of movement seems omitted, leaving only the result.

But.

Darwood Campbell keeps up with it.

He responds and meets it.

“-What!”

A voice filled with astonishment escaped from Klein’s lips.

For a human, it should be impossible to keep up. Even the strongest individuals shouldn’t be able to do such a thing.

‘-That’s what you thought when you made it, I suppose.’

Even setting aside demonic energy.

Darwood Campbell is undoubtedly a monster.

It’s a very simple fact.

Physical abilities that increase with crisis, fortification through divine power, martial arts, and so on—

It was clearly a careless response, showing no intention to investigate the “history of power” accumulated in this man’s body.

The result was also clear.

Before the weapon wielded by the cyborg could touch his body, Darwood raised a water glass.

And then.

“Hup.”

With all his might, he “rammed” it into the cyborg’s chest.

A strike combining physical abilities amplified to the extreme, martial techniques honed to perfection, and experiences from countless brushes with death.

As a result.

The exterior material shattered under his fist, and the cyborg, with the water glass stuffed into its core drive component.

With a clang, the cyborg collapsed ungracefully.

“…”

“…”

The entire dome was instantly filled with silence.

It felt like an even deeper silence than when Boris’s mechanical dinosaur had shattered Mobius’s safety net.

And through that silence, the sound of Darwood rummaging through the box again echoed all around.

Eventually, he pulled out a spoon.

“I’ll try this next.”

“…”

A terrible silence fell over the control room again.

Through it, Astrid spoke in a hollow voice.

“…Isn’t he just killing them with his own strength and then pretending he killed them with everyday items?”

“…It does look that way.”

Alpha quietly agreed with Astrid’s muttering, nodding his head.

Of course, that’s technically correct.

But looking at Klein’s trembling face right now.

“It seems to be making a great contribution to tearing down the opponent’s self-esteem.”

It can’t be denied that it’s “effective” at making the opponent furious.

“That’s my son alright.”

“…Is that something to be proud of?”

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“-That motherless son of a bitch-!”

“…Well, I am actually that child’s mother.”

“Aaaaargh-!”

“…”

Astrid scratched her ear and closed her mouth.

While profanity-laden words were being torn from Professor Klein’s mouth, it was more amusing to watch Klein’s mental state crumbling than to get angry about such things.

“Next I’ll try scissors.”

A humanoid covered in cutting-edge technology gets cut by scissors meant for paper.

“Next, an iron-“

The sight of beating a nano-machine colony to death with an iron was close to metaphysical horror.

“Next, a spatula-“

The sight of killing a giant synthetic bio-mutant with a spatula was, well…

…How did he do that?

“He’s my son, but how is he really doing that?”

“…How am I supposed to answer when you’re the one asking, Professor?”

While such peaceful conversation was taking place, Professor Klein’s condition on the side was getting increasingly worse.

If at first the other professors, including Mobius, had looked at him with contempt and disdain for showing such a disgraceful display due to insufficient preparation, now they were looking at him with almost sympathetic gazes.

Of course, anyone would go mad watching their masterpieces, into which they had poured their heart and soul, being torn to shreds by such trivial objects.

The fact that Professor Klein, who had previously been spewing curses, was now only making sounds resembling animal cries made this abundantly clear.

So, that is…

[You inhuman bastard! Stop! Stop it-! I’m asking you to take this seriously-!]

To the point where he was now beyond anger and actually begging for a proper match.

Of course, the problem was that his opponent was the genuine trash of this era who would clearly ignore such requests.

“I am taking it seriously.”

With a sinister smile on his face, Darwood Campbell, who was turning the synthetic creature beneath his feet into mush with a spatula covered in viscous green blood, gave such an answer.

An expression that seemed to say: What can you do about it if I don’t take this seriously?

“I mean, if I were losing, I might understand, but I’m winning with all of this!”

[You, you piece of shit, I’ll tear you apart-!]

“The ones being torn apart are these crude research specimens you made.”

With that, Darwood started laughing again and began striking the mutant with the spatula.

The pitiful sight of Professor Klein’s ambitious creation, which should have been a calamity for the material world, screaming miserably with each swing of the spatula was almost heartbreaking…

“Well, then.”

Just as Professor Klein was about to lose consciousness and bang his head against the window, such a voice suddenly came from Darwood.

“Would you like to hear a proposal? If you listen, I’ll take this seriously.”

“…! Professor Klein!”

Mobius frowned and shouted.

No, this isn’t good. Whatever it is, there’s no reason to listen to what the opponent has to say.

I have a bad feeling about this. A feeling that we’ll only incur losses.

Such thoughts were probably tangled in that shout, but they had no chance of reaching the ears of Professor Klein, whose eyes had already rolled back.

[Just say it! Stop that nonsense right now!]

A deep smile spread across Darwood’s lips.

It was clearly an expression that seemed even more sinister compared to what he had been wearing until now.

“That’s right.”

That muttered voice was probably barely heard only by Calivan Chrysanyx inside the Soul Linker wrapped around his arm.

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