Gears in My Head
Maximilian took a deep breath. In my mind, I pondered what I said, and in my body I governed my broken body. The cogs in his messed up body are slowly being put back together.
The joint creaks and resumes operation. Insufficient blood collects in the head. The misty reason flickers to regain the light.
‘Did I try to become a god?’
Maximilien snorted, and the shock gave him a headache. Now he was getting hit by the wind in his nose.
Even in such a miserable condition, his thoughts did not stop. right, right. The cog in the middle of Maximilian’s head turned slowly.
‘I never believed in God. Ever since I was born without arms, I never leaned on something I couldn’t see for a moment. It was the prosthetic arm that supported me, and it was alchemy that guided me. God never looked at me. It was only me.’
No matter how fatal a crisis comes, his brain moves. It is not a matter of will, it is a matter of function.
Because Maximilien had a cog in his head.
Contrary to the name, the little mechanism he named the thought cog does not replace thoughts. To put it bluntly, it’s more like whipping your brain.
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Forcibly pouring blood into his head and crushing his brain. Block the parts that complain of fatigue, and connect emotions and reason whenever necessary.
Thus, even when tired, hungry, or in pain, his brain does not become dull. Neither fear nor anger nor confusion can hinder thinking. Even when the king of the beasts roars, his body moves, ignoring even the power of the princess. Do it if necessary. Even if it is close to taboo.
Maximilian qualified with it.
The right to move only by one’s own will, regardless of fate or limitations.
‘… Wrong, King of Humans. I don’t have to be a god.’
“Because I am already the god of my life!”
Maximilian did what he earned. At his will, he stretched out his prosthetic arm with a hideous skeleton.
“I was just trying to give you a chance! To the other unqualified! A chance to become your own master!”
Even if your body is full, if you have the will, you can use your own magic. Maximilien concentrated his mind, and the cogs that had stopped turned all at once.
The steel beetle broke the long silence and twisted itself. I’ve been suppressing it up until now, but no one can stop the Steel Beetle until I step out. Even the King of Dogs creaked to use the power that the giant weapon that overwhelms them with power… .
That was it.
“It’s nice to hear the word “qualification”, but isn’t it too self-serving? To recap, you were trying to drive cogs into someone else’s body, right?”
I shrugged.
The steel beetle’s stretching stopped at a creak. If the mechanical device had symptoms of general paralysis, it would be just like that. The steel beetle convulsed painfully without being able to use its enormous power.
Maximilien tried to move the steel beetle over and over again, but failed as many times as he tried. Because the exoskeleton surrounding the steel beetle did not move at all.
“I just had a mediocre reaction to him. What kind of man would stand still when he said he was going to put cogs in his body? I will desperately resist. It’s not just out of fear.”
Maximilian pointed to the steel beetle so he could see. Between the gigantic cogs that make up the exoskeleton were tiny cogs.
Two gears meshing together work fine. If so, what if you insert one more so that it comes into contact with the two well-running cogs at the same time? What if the three interlock with each other?
no return at all
If one cog turns clockwise, the meshing cog must turn counterclockwise. That is the basic principle of the cog wheel. However, if there is one other cog that meshes with both of them, the cog must turn clockwise and counterclockwise.
It’s a contradiction.
“Look at the steel beetle. When an odd number of teeth form a loop, it stops like that. Even with such a simple number, the cog wheel is useless. You can write it, no one else can. No, I don’t.”
“Ugh… !”
“I give up now. There is nothing left for you.”
Until a while ago, there was even a cog wheel to throw. He also had the power to use alchemy. He also had protective gear to protect his body.
Until he met Historia’s Bayonet Swordsmanship. Now he is nothing more than a living corpse with a prosthetic arm.
I walked towards him, who had lost his means of resistance. There are a few cogs that have fallen around, but this is not a threat at all. Even the cog wheels must eventually be threaded to become a treasure.
He has no means to stop me. Any human can crush it with just a prosthetic hand, but my opponent is me. If my hand even touches his body, I will use his unique magic to turn all the cogs in his body upside down. including thought cogs.
Maximilien lowered his head as if he had given up on everything and hesitated.
Now just two steps. The distance between Maximilien and me is only that. With two steps left until death, Maximilien grabbed his right arm with his left arm. The prosthetic arm vibrates violently. He seemed to be trembling in fear.
“no! I do not stop!”
It can’t be. The vibration of the prosthetic hand was a death sentence just before it was cut off. Quad Duck. The joint between the right arm and the shoulder was loosened, and the left arm pulled out the right arm, which had been a lifelong rival, from the body.
Maximilian, who held even his own arm as a weapon, shouted and swung fiercely.
‘If it’s not enough, fill it up. If it’s broken, you can fix it. If it’s bad, you can improve it. If it’s impossible, make it possible! I don’t stop!’
Who would think he would pull out his arm and wield it? It is a surprise kick that digs into the gaps of consciousness. No matter how much he was injured, Maximilian was a strong man who reached the height of six. The speed at which he swings his arm as an axis is incredible. The cogs on the prosthetic arm crashed hard as if they were about to bite me.
But I am a mind reader. If it is a carefully calculated movement, read more carefully.
Instead of avoiding the swinging left arm, he stretched out his hand. Compared to his prosthetic arm, my hand exploded slowly enough to let out a sigh, but the speed is relative anyway. My fingers touch first before it hits my face. The prosthetic arm and the hand crossed, and a cog wheel caught on the tip of my fingernail.
The tiresome battle ended there. Maximilian’s body stood still as if stuffed in the photograph.
Because of inertia, my prosthetic arm touched my cheek, but that’s it. I muttered as I felt the cold touch on my cheeks.
“… I turned everything upside down and tried to break it, but in the meantime, the gears stopped working.”
Just as I could stop the cogs from spinning, so he can do the same. Maximilien stopped all movements the moment he sensed that the gears in his body were malfunctioning.
It’s the best possible response. That doesn’t change the situation though.
“Anyway, you wouldn’t be able to move if you had cogs all over your body. I only get a few seconds of time before I die.”
just as expected. Power drains from his body. If you stop the cog wheel, your body can’t stand it.
I have no intention of ignoring No, rather, I want to applaud you for squeezing out all the numbers until the end. However, if I let go of this hand, it will move again, so I clapped with my mouth instead.
“Clap clap. You are so great. Not to deceive or ridicule, but from the heart. You were such a wonderful and candid person until the very end.”
When I think about it objectively, it makes no sense for me to lose.
In addition to wearing a prosthetic arm, Maximilien filled the inside of his body with cogs to strengthen his body. Thanks to this, he was incredibly strong, and he was able to move on a par with a general who had learned qigong. Perhaps it was cumbersome to explain that part, but it seems that he is a qigong master who has mastered the fieldwork and supervision, and the ability to control the cogwheel is covered with li (離).
Anyway, thanks to that, I started with a cowardly favorable condition of winning with just one hand. Strong allies called Aji and Historia were a bonus.
No matter how weak I was and the strength of that side over there, this battleboard was completely overturned due to being unable to lean. It was all because of Maximilian’s skill that brought such an unfavorable fight to this point.
“It’s just that the direction has gone too far. Those who have attained the Demon God naturally change other humans, and do not fight against them. On the other hand, you tried to fight against all other humans. Until you have a proxy battle with me.”
While holding the prosthetic arm in one hand, he took out a card with the other hand. Diamond 1, all-purpose skewer. It is converted into alchemy with the remaining magical power. A familiar feeling filled his palms.
I grabbed the skewer in reverse and lifted it up to Maximilian’s head. Although Maximilian had almost stopped thinking, his red, bloodshot eyes unconsciously pursued the tip of the skewer. In the midst of this, life instinctively guards against death.
“Goodbye, Maximilian. I will only affirm your wishes. I will remember the dream that could not come true. Even if I can’t make my wish come true, I’ll write that wish on the side of the ossuary and keep it. The king of men acknowledges you. Maximilien, you were not a god, but you were a warrior without cowardice.”
After a brief condolences for him, I moved my hand. The skewer digs into the temple.
The sensation of digging into something hard on the chin was transmitted… .
I tilted my head. It was because the skewer, which he would have swung at his head, was stabbing something else.
The tree was growing.
Suddenly, a tree sprouted through the concrete floor and blocked my skewer. Gently shake the branches.
The situation is so quiet right now that it feels like there was a tree there from the beginning and I was wielding a skewer without noticing it.
It can’t be.
this is a military It is the headquarters of the military that covered the floor with concrete and cut down any wood that was useless as firewood in the early evening. With concrete instead of soil and bricks instead of wood, there can be no trees on this land.
Even if there is, it is rare to find a species that can grow through such thick concrete. Even that kind of thing can’t grow to the height of a human in a matter of seconds!
It is clearly an artificial phenomenon. Someone made a tree grow to protect Maximilien. Second to see if it is possible!
But who?
“I’m sorry, my king.”
The answer came from the ground.
At first it was a sprout. Next was the cemetery. In a matter of seconds, what had been a sprout had grown into a large, beautiful tree that stood tall in front of me.
It was the most static explosion in the world. Natural explosives with green smoke and brown flames enveloped me in the blink of an eye.