Omniscient First-Person’s Viewpoint

EP.302 Maximilien, the cogwheel in my head,

calmly took a breath. Mentally, I chewed over my words, and physically, I took care of my broken body. The cogwheels in his body, which had been messed up, are slowly being put back together.

The joint creaks and resumes operation. Insufficient blood collects in the head. The reason that was hazy as if it was covered in fog flickers to regain its light.

‘I was trying to become a god?’

Maximilien snorted and the shock gave him a headache. Now he was on the verge of being hit by his own snort.

Even in such a miserable physical condition, his thoughts did not stop. straight right The cog in the middle of Maximilien’s head turned slowly.

‘I never believed in God. From the time I was born without arms, I never leaned on the invisible for a moment. What supported me was the prosthetic arm, and what guided me was alchemy. God never looked at me. It was only me.’

No matter how fatal a crisis comes, his brain works. It’s not a question of will, it’s a question of function.

Because Maximilien had driven a cog into his head.

Contrary to its name, the small mechanical device he named “Thinking Gear” does not replace thinking. To put it bluntly, it’s close to whipping the brain.

Blood is forced into the head and the brain is crushed. The part that complains of fatigue is blocked, and emotion and reason are connected whenever necessary.

Therefore, even if he is 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 beasts cries, his body moves and he ignores even the power of the princess. Do it if necessary. Even if it is close to taboo.

Maximilien qualified with that.

Regardless of fate or limitations, you have the right to move only by your own will.

‘…Wrong, King of Men. I don’t have to be a god.’

“Because I am already the god of my life!”

Maximilien did what he earned. At his own will, he stretched out his prosthetic arm with its hideous skeleton.

“I was just trying to give it a chance! To the other unqualified! A chance to be your own master!”

Even if your body is damaged, if you have the will, you can use your own magic. Maximilien concentrated his mind, and the gears that had stopped started spinning all at once.

The steel beetle broke its long silence and twisted. I’ve been holding it in so far, but there’s nothing to stop the steel beetle once I step out. The gigantic weapon that overwhelms even the dog king with its power creaked in order to use its power…

That was all.

“The word “qualification” sounds good, but isn’t it too self-inflicted? To sum up, you were trying to drive cogs into someone else’s body, right?”

I shrugged.

The steel beetle’s stretching stopped with a creak. If there was a symptom of general paralysis in a mechanical device, it would be just like that. The steel beetle convulsed painfully, unable to use its tremendous strength.

Maximilien tried to move the steel beetle several times, but failed as many times as he tried. That’s because the exoskeleton that surrounds the steel beetle doesn’t move at all.

“I just had a normal reaction to him. What kind of human would stand still when he said he would drive cogs into his body? You will desperately resist. It’s not just because I’m afraid.”

Maximilien pointed at the steel beetle so he could see it better. In between the giant cogs that made up the exoskeleton were tiny cogwheels.

Two cogwheels meshing with each other turn well. Then, what if you insert one more so that it comes into contact with the two gears that work well at the same time? What would happen if the three interlocked with each other?

not going back at all

If one cog turns clockwise, the meshing cog must turn counterclockwise. That’s the basic principle of a cog wheel. However, if there is one more cog that meshes with both of them, the cog should turn clockwise and counterclockwise.

It’s a contradiction.

“Look at the steel beetle. When an odd number of teeth loop, it stops like that. Even with such a simple move, the cogs are useless. You can use it, no one else can use it. no, don’t.”

“Keugh…!”

“I give up now. There is nothing left for you.”

Until earlier, there was even a cog to throw. He also had the magic to use alchemy. There were also protective gear to defend his body.

That is, until he was hit by Historia’s bayonet. Now he is nothing more than a living corpse with a prosthetic arm.

I walked towards him, who had lost the means of resistance. There are a few fallen gears nearby, but they pose no threat at this amount. Gears are also treasured when they are eventually threaded.

He has no means to stop me. Any average human can crush it with just a prosthetic arm, but the opponent is me. If my hand even touches his body, I will use his innate magic to turn every cog in his body backwards. Including the thought teeth.

Maximilien hung his head and hesitated as if he had given up.

Just two steps now. The distance between Maximilien and me was only that much. With two steps to death, Maximilien grabbed his right arm with his left. The prosthetic arm vibrates violently. Outwardly, he seemed to be trembling with fear.

“no! I don’t stop!”

It can’t be. The vibration of the prosthetic arm was the death knell on the verge of breaking. Quadduk. The connection between the right arm and shoulder was undone, and the left arm pulled out the right arm, which had been its lifelong rival, from the body.

Maximilien, who had even used his own arm as a weapon, screamed desperately and swung it.

‘If it’s not enough, you can fill it up. If it’s broken, fix it. If it’s bad, you can improve it. If impossible, make it possible! I won’t stop!’

Who would think he would pull out his arm and wield it? It was a surprise swordsmanship that penetrated the gaps in consciousness. No matter how injured he is, Maximilien is a strong man who has reached growth. The speed at which he swings his arm around the axis is staggering. The gears on the prosthetic arm clicked against me as if they were about to bite me.

But I am a mind reader. If it is a carefully calculated movement, it is read more clearly.

Instead of avoiding the swinging left arm, he reached out his hand. Compared to his prosthetic arm, my hand was so slow that I could sigh, but speed is relative anyway. My fingers touch it first before it hits my face. The prosthetic arm and hand intersected, and a cogwheel caught on the tip of my fingernail.

The tedious battle ended there. Maximilien’s body stood still as if it had been stuffed into a photograph.

Due to inertia, the prosthetic arm touched my cheek, but that’s it. I murmured, feeling the cold touch on my cheek.

“…I tried to break it by turning it all upside down, but I managed to stop the cogs in the middle of it.”

Just as I could stop the spinning gears, he can do the same. The moment Maximilien sensed that the gears inside his body were malfunctioning, he stopped all movement.

This is the best possible response. That doesn’t change the situation, though.

“Even if it were, you wouldn’t be able to move with gears spread all over your body. It’s just a matter of buying a few seconds before dying.”

just as expected. Power drains from his body. If you stop the cogs, your body can’t stand it.

I have no intention of ignoring it. No, rather, I want to applaud them for squeezing all the numbers until the end. However, if I let go of this hand, it would move again, so I clapped with my mouth instead.

“Clap clap clap. you are so amazing Not deceiving or ridiculing, but genuinely from the heart. You were such a wonderful and honest person until the very end.”

If you think about it objectively, it doesn’t make sense for me to lose.

Aside from wearing a prosthetic arm, Maximilien stuffed the inside of his body with gears to strengthen his body. Thanks to this, he was incredibly strong and could move on par with a general who had learned qigong. It seemed like he was a qigong master who had mastered Geongon Supervision himself, and his ability to control gears was called Li (離).

Anyway, thanks to that, I started with the cowardly advantageous condition of victory at the touch of a hand. The strong allies of Aji and Historia were bonuses.

No matter how weak I am and the other side is the Great Wall, this fight was a completely overturned board because it couldn’t tilt. It was all because of Maximilien’s skills that he had brought this unfavorable fight to this point.

“It’s just too misdirected. Those who reach the Demon God naturally change other humans and do not struggle with them. In contrast, you tried to struggle against all other human beings. Even while fighting a proxy war with me.”

While holding the prosthetic arm with one hand, he took out a card with the other hand. Diamond 1 All-Purpose Skewers. Alchemy converts the remaining magic power into alchemy. A familiar tactile feeling filled the palm of my hand.

I held the skewer in reverse and held it up to the height of Maximilien’s head. Even though Maximilien had almost stopped thinking, his bloodshot red eyes unconsciously followed the tip of the skewer. Even in the midst of it, life instinctively guards against death.

“Goodbye, Maximilien. I will only affirm your wishes. I will remember the dream that could not come true. Even if I can’t grant your wish, I’ll write it down on the side of the ossuary and keep it. The king of men acknowledges you. You were not God Maximillian, but you were a warrior without cowardice.”

After a brief tribute to him, I moved my hand. The skewer digs into the temple. I

felt the tactile sensation of digging into something hard with my jaw…

I tilted my head. It was because the skewer, which was obviously aimed at his head and swung, was stabbing something else.

A tree was growing.

Before I knew it, a tree that had risen through the concrete floor was blocking my skewer. Shaking the branches gently.

Right now, the situation is so quiet that it feels like there was a tree in that position originally, and I swung a stick without noticing it.

It can’t be.

This is a military country. It is the headquarters of the military that covered the floor with concrete and cut down useless trees for firewood in the evening. There can be no trees on this land where concrete is used instead of soil and bricks are used instead of trees.

Even if there is one, it is rare to find one that grows through such thick concrete. Even if they were of that kind, they would not grow to the height of a human being in less than a few seconds!

It is clearly a man-made phenomenon. Someone made a tree grow to protect Maximilien. Second to whether that’s possible!

But who?

“I apologize, my king.”

The answer came from the ground.

At first it was a sprout. Next were seedlings. Within seconds, what had been a sprout became a large, beautiful tree, standing 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 twinkling of an eye.