Chapter 384. Looming War Clouds (2)
George Bernard Dantzig was a mathematician, who was also known as the father of linear programming. One day, when he went to a class late, he saw two problems on the corner of the blackboard and mistook them as assignments. He copied them onto his notebook and solved them when he got back home. It was only later he found out that the problems he solved weren’t homework, but ones that his teacher had brought up as unsolved problems in statistics. Hearing this, he said his famous lines, ‘No wonder the problems seemed to be a little harder than usual’.
This mathematician came to Chi-Woo’s mind when he heard Yeriel’s story. There was a high possibility that the sky-blue metal Yeriel was talking about was reliquia. Reliquia was a top-tier metal that a mere human wouldn’t dare try to manipulate with their abilities. That was why Chi-Woo had offered it to La Bella; he couldn’t do anything with it himself. Yet Yeriel had managed to use a metal Chi-Woo presumed to be reliquia to make the AI Armor. And when Chi-Woo expressed his astonishment that she had managed such a great feat, Yeriel responded carefreely, “Ah, is that so? No wonder it was a bit more difficult to manage than other metals.”
Then, when the two arrived at the workshop, Yeriel showed Chi-Woo a metallic ball the size of a fist. It was shaped like the AI Armor prototype that Yeriel had shown the other Seven Stars’ members. But instead of a rusty color, it was a shiny marble with white streaks that looked like clouds. It didn’t look like a discolored steel ball but a carefully crafted, beautiful artwork.
“It at least responds,” Yeriel said. It appeared she had already tried pouring her mana into it. Unusually, it didn’t emit light like the other AI Armors, and an enigmatic, geometric shape simply floated on its surface.
“What is this?” asked Chi-Woo.
“I don’t know.” Yeriel scratched her head. “I assume it to be an ego or a consciousness that somehow formed and surpassed the AI system that I programmed into the item. But since I can’t decipher the symbols, I can’t be sure of it… The only thing I’m certain about is that it can react. But I can’t activate it because I don’t know what the next step is.”
Yeriel observed that mana being poured into it simply passed through the ball without getting absorbed. However, she didn’t know the reason behind it and struggled to find out. And as expected, there was no way Chi-Woo would know what even Yeriel didn’t know.
However, Chi-Woo got a strange feeling of attraction as soon as Yeriel brought this AI Armor out. It wasn’t an illusion. His heartbeat sounded clearer and heavier than usual. Then, his heart, which was imbued with the Core of Balance, began to thump harder than ever, as if it was responding to the item.
“Can I touch it?” Chi-Woo asked.
“Sure,” Yeriel handed the AI Armor over. Chi-Woo carefully held the item and felt a slight tremor. It was so slight that Yeriel didn’t notice it even though she was looking at the object intently.
—Confirming user.
Chi-Woo flinched.
“What? What is it?”
“No. Just now—" Chi-Woo was about to say that a voice was ringing in his head, but stopped when the voice continued to speak.
—Confirming a vessel’s existence.
—100% drive rate confirmed.
“W-What? Why are numbers suddenly coming up? The symbols changed too? This has never happened before,” Yeriel said confusedly, but in actuality, it was only to be expected. To give an analogy, there was no way that a GTX 3090 Ti would run on an early model of computer as soon as it was plugged in. Only after a programmer installed the right software and hardware to the computer would it begin to operate properly. In other words, it was as if the AI Armor finally found a user that could perfectly provide it with an environment to run on.
—Completed preparations to install the Aegis System.
—Do you agree to continue the process?
Chi-Woo nodded but he was a bit baffled, and Yeriel screamed. The AI Armor in Chi-Woo’s hand gradually melted until it disappeared into his body. Chi-Woo felt a cool substance get absorbed into his palm, entering his body. Then, it circled one lap around his body, drew a spiral around his heart, and gathered together. Not long afterward, Chi-Woo felt something seep into his heart and disappear.
—Installment completed.
[User Choi Chi-Woo’s special ability is activated [Imprinting: Core of Union]]
Chi-Woo heard and saw the message almost simultaneously.
“W-W-W-hat the hell? What happened? Don’t just stand there and tell me! Quickly!” Only after Yeriel asked the same questions five times did Chi-Woo regain his senses. He didn’t get what was going on either. If he were to make a rough guess, he would say it was connected to the ability he had acquired after ranking up Core of Balance. Still, Chi-Woo thought it would be easiest to understand what was going on by trying it out himself, and he drew out his exorcism mana.
“Hm…” There was no change, at least not on the outside. Chi-Woo tilted his head and turned to Yeriel, who was biting her fingers anxiously.
“Ms. Yeriel.”
“Yes!”
“Would you mind attacking me? It’s alright to put more force into it.”
“Really? Okay, don’t blame me if you get hurt,” she said. She had been desperate to find out what had happened anyways and immediately got into a stance. She took out a bunch of marbles the size of a pebble and began to throw as many of them at Chi-Woo as possible. The first marble morphed into a long spear as it flew across the air. It closed their distance in an instant but pop! It failed to reach Chi-Woo as a semitransparent, hexagon-shaped barrier blocked it within 20 to 30 centimeters of its target.
The spear was no ordinary weapon and continued to try to pierce through the barrier with renewed momentum, yet it only created ripples in the air while trembling futilely, failing to move the shield. The marbles that followed afterward changed shape into a hammer and struck the barrier. As expected, the barrier didn’t even budge. The next marble shot out poisonous gas, and the shield transformed in response. It wavered and became the wind, scattering the poisonous gas all around. Then, it absorbed attacks in liquid form by becoming a flowing cloud. It even responded to magic attacks by changing into a symbol. Yeriel’s mouth gaped open seeing the whole process.
“…I can’t believe it.” She shook her head, stunned. “I’ve…never…made such a piece of equipment…” She stammered and staggered backward. It really was shocking, because the AI Armors that Yeriel had created until now operated only through its shape memory; in other words, there was a limit to the forms it could take. It was the first time she was seeing an AI Armor show such diverse forms to respond to the situation most efficiently and perfectly. If she had to explain it, it was as if the AI Armor utilized Chi-Woo’s user information directly to create its own defense system.
“What? Why…wait. It’s not from the outside but the inside…Then, why…” Yeriel murmured to herself for a while. “No matter how long I think about it, I don’t get it.” In the end, she raised both arms and sighed. She couldn’t understand the process leading to this event, the end result, or what this all meant for future inventions. If the result she was seeing wasn’t a miracle or a coincidence, there was a high chance that this invention was on a whole other level, exceeding her current skill level and understanding.
“Still…I know one thing,” Yeriel licked her lips and said, “I thought I wasted a precious material, but in the end, I made an AI Armor perfectly suited for you—though of course, that wasn’t my intention at all and it happened out of pure luck.” The mistake was a blessing in disguise.
Yeriel added, “How is it?”
“It’s really nice,” Chi-Woo replied instantly because that was how much he liked the AI Armor. If the Demon Empire heard what he just got his hands on, they would be grieving bitterly. Their most threatening opponent was now equipped with great defense that could rival his offense.
“It was worth getting the toharis at the risk of my life for.”
“You’re satisfied with this?” Yeriel snorted. “Keep your hopes up. There’s still plenty more for me to show you.”
Yes, as Yeriel said, he couldn’t be satisfied just by this. They needed to prepare much more for the upcoming danger and pull together everything they could.
***
Bael walked. As if she was going on a journey without a destination in mind, she walked mindlessly. After a while, she suddenly stopped because there was someone blocking her path. The figure bowed his head deeply, and Bael looked at the being kneeling on one leg before her.
“The Chairman arrived with his army just now.”
“If Marbas came…” Bael said, “That means almost all the single-digit ranking demons have gathered.”
“With one exception…” The figure talked back, but quickly closed his mouth when he saw Bael’s mouth quiver slightly. He quickly changed the topic.
“Among the total of 34 great demons, 20 had responded.” There were originally 66 great demons, but half of them were extinguished during the prolonged war. Though they tried to quickly settle the internal conflict and reorganize the ranks, two great demons had died as soon as they settled down. Then, among those left alive, five great demons declared that they wouldn't respond to the call if Shersha wasn’t released from her imprisonment. And excluding the nine great demons who went to defend the Demon Empire’s borders in case of an emergency, they had amassed the greatest number of forces that they could: which was 20 out of the 34 remaining great demons.
Bael made a bitter smile. A myriad of trivial matters was tearing them down and leading them to this point. She needed to stop things from progressing the way they were and make her move. She had to do something decisive.
“What’s the situation like?”
“We made all the confirmations. It’s as we expected.”
“Then, we should act accordingly.” Bael waved her hands, and the figure immediately backed away. Bael let out the sigh she had been holding in, but she didn’t hesitate for long and eventually turned to look behind her. The path she took was lined from corner to corner with twenty great demons and their legions standing in order. It was quite the sight.
What Shersha had said suddenly came to her mind, but it was too late to turn back now. They had crossed the line ages ago and could only look forward. Only then would they feel no regret or lingering feelings. Bael turned around again speechlessly and kept walking. The troops behind her followed her and began to march. They were making their way to one particular place: Shalyh. A fire that was about to die down gradually began to burn up again.
***
There was quite a buzz in Shalyh recently. It was because of the rumor circling around the city that there would be a great war in Shalyh soon. Considering that they were on Liber, where wars were commonplace, it wouldn’t be strange for a battle to suddenly break out. Yet the situation had changed a bit compared to before. After the Demon Empire failed to invade Shalyh, there had hardly been any wars. There were some conflicts here and there, but none of the four factions—the Cassiubia League, the Sernitas, the Demon Empire, and even the Abyss—fought as desperately and mercilessly as before.
Even while knowing that their hardships were far from over, they had become accustomed to the peace in the meantime, and the sound of war felt unfamiliar to residents in Shalyh. But then, finally, the d-day arrived. In the middle of the night, a messenger sent by Ismile visited Seven Stars. Hearing what the messenger said, Chi-Woo quickly got changed and went to the official residence with Ru Amuh.
He entered the office that his brother had often used before and saw a couple of familiar faces: Alice Ho Lactea, Emmanuel, Apoline… Most of the Celestial Lights who had made a name for themselves were here, and it wasn’t just the heroes from humanity's side. There was Dalgil from the buhguhbu tribe, Murumuru from the half demon tribe, representatives from the Dingo and Carbuncle tribe, an elder from the Kobalos tribe, and more. All the influential members of Shalyh had gathered here. Chi-Woo quietly took his seat; Ru Amuh sat beside him and waited quietly.
There was a heavy silence the moment they entered. The fact that such great figures were attending the same meeting was no light matter. Furthermore, the person who had called them was none other than Ismile. Though Nahla’s name wasn’t lacking in any way to amass a group of people of this level, Ismile was a hero who liked to work independently and hadn’t even created an official faction. Thus, it was surprising that such a hero would go out of his way to gather everyone in one place. The same had happened only once before when there was a grave event; moreover, Chi-Hyun wasn’t here.
Everyone sensed the tense atmosphere and kept their mouths sealed. The silence didn’t last as the person who called on them appeared.
“Huh? Everyone’s here so early. I’m sorry that I’m late. I was hearing a new report that just came in,” Ismile walked in with light footsteps wearing comfy clothes like he always did. Instead of walking in leisurely as he usually did, though, he quickly marched through the office and looked around him.
“Let me see. Pretty much everyone’s here…where’s our little Mari?”
“She’s busy with production at the workshop and says it’ll be difficult to participate,” Ru Amuh quickly answered for Yeriel. What he actually heard from her was: ‘I’m focusing so don’t fucking bother me and piss off,’ but he relayed the message as mannerly as possible.
“Ah, is that so? Well, it’s understandable why Mari is acting like that. She needs every single second.” Ismile nodded. “Then, there’s that.”
Apoline tilted her head curiously because the two looked like they already knew what was going on.
“Yes…honestly, we don’t even have time to do this, so let me get right to the reason I called you here.” Ismile rubbed his palms and sat on the edge of the desk.
Then he said while looking around the room. “It looks like we’re fucked.”
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