519 – The Underground City, and the Gigantes.

“The Machina City of Agartha?”

“Yes. It’s an underground city built by the people who escaped from the ancient kingdom of Danashia, which once flourished to the north of here.”

The silver-haired woman, dressed in a pure white toga, responded to my question with a gentle smile and courteous tone.

“Danashia? What’s that?”

“It was one of the two ancient kingdoms that once vied for supremacy on this continent,” Kuhn explained in her usual calm voice.

Thanks for the clarification—I’m completely clueless about this stuff.

If I remember right, back in ancient times, two major kingdoms led a global conflict, throwing hordes of golems into battle and causing catastrophic damage across the world. Wasn’t it called the Ancient Golem War?

That war supposedly destroyed the world once, and what we have now is a civilization rebuilt from the ruins. At least, that’s what the history books on the Western Continent say.

“During the war, not everyone wanted to fight. Some people rejected the violence and fled the kingdom. They happened to discover this underground facility and went into hiding, waiting for the war to end. But the war dragged on for decades, so they eventually settled here, making it their second home.”

“That makes sense… I heard the Ancient Golem War lasted over three hundred years,” I murmured.

Kuhn nodded in agreement with the toga woman's story. Three hundred years, huh...

Come to think of it, there was a war on Earth called the “335-Year War.” But that one ended with no real fighting—it was just a matter of no one ever officially declaring peace, so historians later realized, “Wait, this war technically never ended,” and finally drew up a treaty after 335 years. Weird stuff.

It was even called the most peaceful war in human history. Not a single bullet was fired.

“So, are you a descendant of those ancient people who lived here?” Leen asked.

But the woman shook her head.

“Unfortunately, the humans who lived here gradually dwindled in number. About two hundred years later, they had all passed away. Life underground, without sunlight, was simply too harsh for humans to survive.”

No sunlight… So, vitamin D deficiency? Yeah, being a shut-in really isn’t healthy.

“Must’ve been vitamin D deficiency,” Leen said. “Makes people more vulnerable to infections, leads to osteoporosis too, apparently.”

“Wow, you know a lot…”

“I read it in one of the books we brought back from Earth.”

Wait, what? Since when has my wife been reading Earth science books? Did she even buy medical texts?

…Hold on. If everyone died two hundred years after the war started, and the war happened about five thousand years ago, then who the heck is this woman standing in front of us?

Just as I was pondering that, Kuhn clapped her hands together.

“I see now. You’re a humanoid golem, aren’t you?”

“Yes. Model number PEL-42, from the ‘Pellragione’ series. I am Perlusica, a golem designed for medical care and nursing.”

With graceful elegance, the humanoid golem named Perlusica bowed to us.

A humanoid golem, huh. As expected of a so-called “Ancient Machine Legacy”—they’re hard to tell apart from real humans. If I look closely, her irises do seem a little different from ours.

Even compared to Sheska and the Babylon Sisters, she doesn’t seem inferior at all.

Leen turned to Perlusica.

“But you’re a medical golem. Didn’t you notice the health of the people here deteriorating?”

“I did. However, as generations passed, their fear of the surface grew stronger. Most of them refused to leave. They believed the surface was a world of death. That they couldn’t survive if they left this place.”

Hmm… I guess they just inherited their parents’ fear. No one wants to send their kids to a land full of killer robots, after all.

“So, you’ve been here alone ever since, protecting this underground city?” I asked.

“Yes. Even after humans vanished and it became a city solely of golems—a Machina City—we’ve remained here in cycles of dormancy and wakefulness… as the watchers of Gigantes.”

“Gigantes?” Leen echoed.

Perlusica raised her slender arm and pointed toward the darkness beyond.

The city’s dim light made it hard to see, but up past a pyramid-like structure… I could barely make out something huge. What… is that?

“[Come forth, O Light! Radiant brilliance, Mega Bright!]”

Leen cast an advanced illumination spell toward the darkness.

A massive orb of light flared into existence above the pyramid like a giant glowing bulb.

And then, revealed behind the pyramid—half-buried in the wall—was a colossal humanoid machine. A mechanical giant, so massive it looked like a god of war frozen in time.

Wait… I’ve seen something like that before…!

“Hecatoncheir…!”

Yeah—that’s it. The ancient ultimate weapon that the Magitek King of Aizengard resurrected. It looks just like that.

“Hecatoncheir? You mean the doomsday weapon our fathers destroyed along with Aizengard!?” Leen exclaimed.

“So, you know of the ultimate weapons,” Perlusica replied. “Yes. That is one of them. A remnant of destruction left behind here.”

Apparently, this underground facility the people of Danashia discovered had once been a factory used to create a nation’s ultimate weapon.

When they found it, everyone who’d worked there was already dead, their faces twisted in agony.

Maybe it was an accident… or maybe something like poison gas had leaked out. No one knows for sure.

The refugees from Danashia decided to use the facility to hide because nowhere above ground was safe.

Eventually, through scraps of data left behind, they began researching the doomsday weapon known as Gigantes—and made a chilling discovery.

It was already complete. Just lying dormant.

“Gigantes is currently in a forcibly induced sleep state. If it reactivates, it will begin executing its prime directive—‘destroy the enemy.’”

“Enemy…?”

“All golems that do not belong to its original country.”

So, wait—if that thing wakes up, it’ll start destroying every single golem in the world?

What kind of insane command did they program into this thing!?

“The command input into Gigantes is, in a sense, its instinct… its very reason for being. Even without a master, this golem will carry out its mission with unwavering devotion. That is why we call it a negative legacy. When it awakens… the world will end.”

Come to think of it, that old Magitek geezer once said that, toward the end of the Ancient Golem War, every country was rushing to build their own doomsday weapon. This must be one of them.

Maybe it was built to counter the country that made Hecatoncheir…

“The world’s going to be destroyed… huh. Darling, what should we do?”

“Hmm. Personally, I’d rather just blow it up—it sounds like a huge pain to deal with…”

“Blow it up!? That’s such a waste! …Ah, n-no, I get it. I mean, we can’t trade the peace of the world for that…”

Kuhn’s voice shrank under the sharp glares from both of her parents.

Still, it is a bit tricky. I mean, we’re technically in another country right now. Destroying something like this without even getting permission from Gandiris’s Iron King might be… problematic.

Does ownership of this ultimate weapon go to us because we found it? Or does it belong to this country since it was buried here originally?

Well, even if they claim ownership, there’s no way I’m letting them activate it.

“Anyway… mind if I take a look at that thing first?”

“…As long as you don’t attempt anything that could awaken Gigantes, that’s fine. But please—exercise the utmost caution.”

Golems like them, who have no Contract Master, are designed to generally obey humans as long as the commands don’t endanger themselves. I’m sure what I’m asking involves a fair bit of risk, but it looks like they’re willing to go along with it anyway.

If that thing gets activated, these golems would be the first to get targeted. No wonder they don’t want it provoked.

Guided by Perlusica, we approached the Gigantes embedded in the wall.

Or rather than “embedded,” it looked more like the surrounding cavern had collapsed and buried the machine within.

Just as we reached the base of the giant, Perlusica raised her hand and motioned for us to stop.

“You must not go any closer. Please, watch.”

Perlusica picked up a nearby pebble and tossed it forward. Instantly, beams of light shot out from the small turrets affixed to the machine’s body, piercing the stone with a crisp chuun.

Kuhn looked up toward the side of the Gigantes’s knee where the lasers had fired and murmured,

“So… the auto-interception system is still active.”

“Yes. That system is independent of Gigantes itself. It targets any moving object within its range.”

I see. I was wondering why they hadn’t just destroyed something that dangerous… but I guess this system is exactly why the people of Agartha couldn’t get close to it.

“So, what is it you want us to do?”

“We are golems. We exist to follow human will. We will not oppose your decisions. However… we hope you’ll honor the wishes of Agartha’s people, who once lived here. Remove the Gigantes, and return peace to this city.”

They must have lived here in constant fear of war breaking out again, with the Gigantes lying dormant beneath them. For two hundred years, no less. Given that… Perlusica’s plea is understandable.

“Otou-sama. [Prison], please.”

“Yeah, yeah…”

It does feel like I’m just being bossed around by my daughter, but… nothing new there.

I activated [Prison], and just in case, stepped forward. Immediately, lasers rained down like a storm over my head.

Perlusica’s eyes widened at the absolute defensive wall that made up [Prison]. For a humanoid-type, she’s quite well-made. She was made for medical care, after all. I guess rich expressions are important when dealing with patients.

The relentless laser barrage made me start to wonder if I should just go ahead and blow up those turrets. But if that caused the Gigantes to activate, we’d be in deep trouble. Ugh, what a pain.

Eventually, the whole group—including Perlusica—arrived at the base of Gigantes. Kuhn examined the machine up close, her eyes scanning intently.

“As I thought, it’s covered in magical runes. Aether lines run all along the armor’s surface. I believe these function as defensive wards, protecting the body from shock and dispersing even magic bullets…”

Ah, there she goes again. Kuhn’s entered mumble-mode. This is gonna be a long one.

“Can you just explain it so we can all understand? Can ‘this’ be destroyed or not?”

“Umm… the magical inscriptions on the armor serve the same purpose as human skin. In other words, if you stimulate it, the ‘nerves’ send a signal to the ‘brain.’ Unless you instantly tear the entire machine to pieces in one go, I’m pretty sure it’ll activate.”

So basically, “Do Not Touch: Extremely Dangerous.” We were just digging a tunnel and somehow hit a live bomb.

“Hmm… It’s tricky, but maybe not impossible to deal with. If I opened a [Gate] under Gigantes and dropped it into a volcano or something…”

“That’s assuming it’ll melt in lava. It might just throw up a defensive barrier and crawl right out of the crater.”

Leen shut down my brilliant idea immediately. Ugh. But she’s got a point. We can’t gamble with this situation. If the volcano explodes from the whole thing, we’re even worse off.

“But moving it somewhere else might not be a bad idea. If we relocate it to a place where there’s no risk of collateral damage and then hit it with all of our Frame Gears, that might work.”

Now that could actually work. Even if it’s a doomsday weapon, it’s probably not stronger than a demon god. With everyone’s help, we might be able to take it down.

Which means… yeah, I definitely need to talk to the Iron King. He’s probably already on his way from the castle, so I can’t use [Gate] to fetch him now.

He should be here in about an hour. Guess we’ll tour the underground city of Agartha while we wait.

We backed away from Gigantes and let Perlusica guide us around the city.

Since this place used to be a Gigantes factory, ancient technology was present all over. Kuhn was practically glowing with excitement the entire time.

Before we knew it, an hour had passed. The Iron King’s group finally emerged through the tunnel we had dug.

“To think such ruins were hidden beneath our own kingdom…”

The party from Gandiris stared wide-eyed at the underground city of Agartha and the colossal Gigantes.

I introduced them to Perlusica and explained the issue this city was facing. Basically, what to do about that Gigantes…

“A final weapon… I never would’ve imagined our country harbored one, just like Aizengard… This is a troubling matter indeed…”

The Iron King groaned, cradling his head in his hands.The final weapons were clusters of ancient technology. For Gandiris, a nation brimming with engineers, it was a veritable treasure trove. But mishandling it could spell the nation’s doom.

“Your Majesty, this might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If we study that final weapon, we might be able to revive the ancient technology we’ve lost…”

“And repeat the same mistakes as Aizengard? Turn this land into scorched earth? The stakes are too high to gamble with.”

The iron King responded to his knight’s words with another deep sigh and then finally raised his head.

“The ancient technology is tempting, but it’s not worth jeopardizing the peace of our people. We shall follow Duke Brunhilde’s suggestion. However, if the Gigantes is no longer operational, we’d be grateful if we could also examine it.”

“Of course. We’ll send Engineer Elka and a few of her assistants to support your team.”

In this case, those "assistants" referred to Dr. Babylon and her crew. I wondered if Professor would tag along too. Somehow, I had a feeling she would.

“So then, the plan is to teleport the Gigantes to an uninhabited area and take it down there…”

I’d better inform everyone. …Though I had a feeling the kids were going to insist on coming too…

“Ah, would it be possible for us to watch the takedown as well?”

“Yes, we would like to witness the conclusion too.”

Perlusica echoed the Iron King’s request. Considering she’d been watching this thing for thousands of years, wanting to see it through to the end was only natural. If that would bring her peace of mind, I had no objections.

“Hmm, well, I think that should be fine.”

But just in case it had something like a charged particle cannon like the advanced Freiz species, we should have them watch via a relay monitor. Maybe that’d be enough to keep the kids satisfied too.

Not that this is a show or anything…

◇◇◇

“It’s huge… I feel like it’s even bigger than the one we fought in Aizengard.”

Yae muttered as she looked up at the Gigantes.

Back then, it took my Reginleif, Yae’s Schwertleite, and Hilda’s Siegrune to bring it down.

If this one’s on the same level as the Hecatoncheir, we might not need everyone. But its power was still unknown, and since it was made by a different country, it could be completely different. Overkill might not be a bad idea if it ensures safety.

“So, where are you planning to teleport this thing?”

“I was thinking Aizengard or Euron, but if I have to pick the safer option, it’s gotta be Aizengard.”

I answered Linze’s question.

Euron had slowly started rebuilding with new towns and villages. Since we had no idea what kind of attacks this thing could unleash, Aizengard—already flattened by an evil god—was the safer bet.

“And we’re all going to fight it?”

“That’s the plan… kind of.”

I answered Yumina, but the ones who reacted weren’t her—It was our little daughter and her friend.

“Okaaay! Dad! I wanna fight too!”

“Your majesty, Your Majesty! Me too! I wanna fight too!”

Linne and Alice stretched their arms as high as they could. Wait—Alice too?

I’d first jumped to Brunhilde to bring Yakumo here, and then we split up and gathered the others. Somehow, Alice ended up tagging along.

And of course, standing right behind them like it was totally normal, was Ende.

“No, this could be dangerous. I’d prefer if you guys just watched on the monitors…”

“We’ll be fine! We can both pilot Frame Gears properly!”

Hmm… Yeah, I knew Linne and Alice could pilot Frame Gears. And they had teleportation escape systems installed. I didn’t think it would get that dangerous, but still…

…Wait a sec. This presence…

“It’s fine. If things go south, I’ll be there to help.”

While I was hesitating, Grandma Tokie suddenly appeared behind Linne and Alice.

It’d been a while. She hadn’t shown up recently, probably because she’d been busy visiting the divine realm. Wonder if something happened up there?

Grandma Tokie was the Goddess of Time and Space. Stopping time and teleporting people was second nature to her. Evacuating a kid or two would be a breeze.

Linne and Alice turned their big, sparkly eyes toward me, filled with hope. Guh…

“Linze, Ende… you okay with this?”

“I trust Linne and Grandma Tokie.”

“If I could stop them, I would… but I doubt that’d do any good…”

Linze smiled warmly while Ende drooped like a withered plant.

“Then, Linne, I’ll lend you my Gerhilde. I think it’ll suit your style more than Linze’s Helmwige.”

“Yay! Thanks, Mama Elze!”

Linne hugged Elze—her aunt and one of her mothers.Yeah, if she was gonna punch and kick, Gerhilde was the better fit… Wait, she’s gonna punch that thing?

I glanced up at the towering Gigantes, still wondering about that.

“What about you, Alice? Gonna use Ende’s Dragoon?”

“Mmm… Papa’s Dragoon’s too squishy…”

“Gwah!?”

Ende took a direct hit.His Dragoon was a lightweight, mobility-focused unit. For a brawler like Alice, it wasn’t exactly ideal. The same went for Ende originally, but he was versatile enough to make it work. Might be time for an upgrade…

But Alice had the special Freiz ability called [Crystal Armament], letting her coat her Frame Gear in crystal armor. So, she should be able to manage.

While I was thinking that, Alice timidly spoke up.

“Um… I kinda wanna try riding Ortlinde… Is that okay?”

“Nn? Mine, you mean?”

Sue blinked in surprise.

Hmm… In terms of brawling, after Elze’s Gerhilde, Sue’s Ortlinde Overlord was probably next best. And it had the best defense out of them all.

“My Ortlinde’s slower than Dragoon, you know? But if that’s okay with you, I don’t mind.”

“Yes! Thank you so much!”

Alice raised her hand in joy after receiving permission from Sue. She was practically bouncing in her seat with excitement.

Ende, on the other hand, still looked rather gloomy.

Yakumo, Frey, Kuhn, Yoshino, Ashia, and Elna were watching the battle unfold through the monitors without protest. Though Kuhn still seemed a bit reluctant, muttering something about how it was a waste to destroy Gigantes.

The team formation was more or less settled—Yumina, Lu, Sakura, and Leen would handle rear support; Linne, Alice, Yae, and Hilda would serve as the front line; while Linze, Ende, and I would operate as a mobile reserve, responding to the situation as needed.

A set of viewing monitors had been installed in the central plaza of the underground city of Agartha, and the relay broadcast was entrusted to the crimson jewel’s familiars.

Well then, guess it’s time to begin dismantling this troublesome heap of junk.