Editing Sorcery Hacker:Volume4 Phase04 (section)

===Part 2===

Sorcery hacking and physical hacking.

Ayato Criminaltrophy and Queen Astaroth Revolver took control of the entire scene around them and threw it at each other.

“Ayatooo!!”

“Are all my old acquaintances idiots who let their eliteness get to their head?”

A great mass stirred up the air.

It was a collection of those thick jellyfish-like tentacles.

Ayato did not try to compete her with strength. Teleria and the others chose routes that wouldn’t endanger half elves as they rolled and accurately dodged.

The mountain of transparent tentacles parted and something emerged.

Humanoid figures.

One, two, ten, twenty…the number kept increasing.

These weren’t quite like the printer soldiers used by the Royal Guards. These muscular figures were forcibly created by winding a large number of tentacles together.

“Ew!? Wh-what are those things!?”

“A new rule’s been added to the fight. Although these don’t seem like an unknown new weapon.”

Teleria paled and Henrietta clicked her tongue.

If those managed to score a clean hit with a sorcery gun they collected somewhere, their target would die. Ayato clicked his tongue, but then another group cut in.

It was the Philosommelier half elves from the Collaborative Continent.

“Leave them to us!! You focus on her!”

“…Understood!!”

If he didn’t focus on the Queen, she might start firing with the giant revolver she held. To ensure the half elves wouldn’t be targeted, he kept his distance from them and resumed aiming for his enemy.

Of course, the thick transparent tentacles did more than just swing around the space.

Their surface was covered with tiny venom needles.

Seeing a tentacle bend like a bow and swing unnaturally outside of her range, Mamilis frowned while keeping up a barrage of fire magic with her full-auto shotgun.

“Watch out!!”

Henrietta rushed in from the side and tackled her to the floor.

Something slashed through the space directly overhead.

And not just once. This attack was as dense as a sandstorm.

“Can those venom needles detach from the tentacles to launch at her enemies?”

No, maybe there was no point in counting up how many ways she could use this. Even now, the Queen was continuing her process of destruction, analysis, and evolution. Her deck was increasing in real time.

Teleria immediately erected a water barrier, but Ayato quickly pulled her back toward him. A tentacle thicker around than her torso pierced right through the water barrier. The water barrier was effective against the rush of tiny needles, but it was no protection against a massive attack.

The jellyfish-like tentacle missed its target and smashed a thick column instead.

The entire palace shook violently.

“I’m not done yet.”

Queen Astaroth Revolver laughed.

The sounds of solid objects being destroyed never ceased. She was not targeting the blades and sorcery guns that would make good weapons. She was using her transparent tentacles to destroy everything indiscriminately, including the candlesticks and carpet.

By combining them all in some complex way, she would produce another horrific super weapon.

A voice left her alluring lips.

“All things are in flux. And all things contain all things within them.”

There was a sound like a thick spring releasing.

The mountain of so many tentacles split apart on its own and several gun barrels thicker around than Ayato’s torso emerged.

(Tch, is she doing alchemy in her belly or something?)

After more mocking laughter, the blonde devil gave a roar.

“''Heavy laser cannon''.”

A storm of light split the space around the Queen.

That wasn’t magic. Which meant stabbing his linkage plug sword into it might not be able to sorcery hack it. Ayato had no way to cheat this with his “weapon”, so the massive amount of deadly force simply rushed in!!

Ayato’s group immediately got down on the floor, but that wasn’t enough. The vast audience chamber already had very little in the way of cover and only Teleria could create thick shields out of water or ice. The explosions and audible impacts did not target Ayato’s group at first. Instead, they went for the half elf bodyguards.

Along with the soldiers made from tentacles.

It wasn’t that the bodyguards had been slow to react.

Some of them very clearly changed position to act as a shield for Ayato’s group. There were even distinct sounds of defense magic and armor being burned through.

“Kh.”

Ayato gritted his teeth at that too-straightforward choice that a cowardly Sorcery Hacker could never make.

He understood the weight and value of what they had defended.

“Miss Teleria! Miss Mamilis too!! Focus your attack on the Queen. Miss Henrietta, use your great strength to retrieve the fallen half elves and drag them out of the audience chamber!!”

“Do you really think I’ll let you?”

More metallic sounds rang out.

He had hard this singsong voice before. What emerged was a super weapon that shouldn’t have existed in this world.

“Electron beam. Railgun. Now, let’s see what I can create for you next, Ayatooo!!”

One was a beam of light that burned through everything. The other was a steel projectile given extreme acceleration.

These weapons attacked along with the transparent tentacle strikes and venom needle sandstorm.

“A-Ayato!! We can’t hold her back like this! We’ll all be killed!!”

Multiple explosions sounded in quick succession and a massive chandelier fell from high above.

“What the hell happened this time!? Ah.”

The minotaur emerged with Butterfly Effector in his hands, but he stopped in shock.

14th Princess Carrisy clicked her tongue.

“Tch! We’ve run into real trouble this time!!”

''Oh, no,'' thought Ayato.

They had likely sensed a terrible accident and come running with the best of intentions, but Queen Astaroth Revolver could slip right past any sorcery security connected to the royal family. In this case, the swords of succession and the maids were nothing but a risk.

Instead of a sorcery gun, 14th Princess Carrisy used a small gun to fire a metal spike into the floor, but she soon spat out some bitter words.

“My forced cooperation antenna isn’t working… But she’s using a revolver-type sorcery gun!”

The Queen had already hacked Micha Angelos.

This threat was much greater than the tentacles and the many sorcery guns.

If they couldn’t respond in time, the devil’s revolver would take each of their lives in turn.

“What, do you want to be hacked again, you sitting ducks?”

“Give up. With Micha aiming at you, you can’t use your sorcery hacking. I’ve already patched that vulnerability.”

Ayato was bluffing.

Even if Micha Angelos was safe, the other maids were a different story. Angela Messenger, Rachel Seraphim, Julielt Resurrection…if a group of those powerful maids were hacked, Ayato wouldn’t be able to use the recovery method he had used before.

“Get back, you two- whoa!?”

After just barely dodging a dreadful beam of light from the giant revolver, Henrietta bit her lip.

The tentacles weren’t the Queen’s only weapon.

“Damn. I’m supposed to be a Striker, so why do I get the feeling I’m being used as a test fire target!? …Hey, wait. What are you grinning about? You’re human, the same as me. And you also don’t have a sword of succession, a special maid, or a sorcery gun that rivals them.”

“Oh? Are you forgetting my linkage plug is still inked to Guardeleo’s Creation Sword Publitie and the maids?”

A strange pressure burst from Ayato’s sword.

He couldn’t directly draw out the power of the sword of succession, but he had a sorcery hacking level of nearly 25000. Even a certain demon lord had only been level 9999. This level of freedom meant his personal actions could influence the stability of an entire continent.

Not to mention…

“Ah hah hah. It’ time I paid you back for everything you’ve done, Micha Angelos. You thought you could get away with working me so hard without batting an eye? Well, now I’ll be heating you up on the inside!!”

“Gh!? I-I am sorry, Your Majesty. I cannot control my body…ahh.”

It was the minotaur prince – and now king – whose eyes opened wide.

“Really…? The fate of the world and all living things is on the line and you’re making moves on my woman? And right in front of me no less!?”

“Oh, what’s this? You don’t understand the desire to want what someone else has, you cow? Well, complain all you like, but I’m the one with control over this beautiful maid right now. Wah hah hah!!”

It was scummy behavior, but you couldn’t expect goodness and righteousness from a Sorcery Hacker.

They had mostly been dragged into the fight, but Micha and the other maids weren’t just sitting around waiting to be destroyed.

Angela Messenger and Julielt Resurrection used the recoil of their own gunfire to perform a big jump.

Rachel Seraphim appeared to be an expert in using her fists and legs, so she ducked low to avoid a transparent tentacle and then darted sharply toward the Queen’s mountain of tentacles.

The many sorcery guns in the arms on the maids’ backs all had top rate firepower. And they were not restricted to their human forms.

“Sh.”

As tiny venom needles rushed Micha’s way like a solid wall, she let out a quick breath and transformed into a purple butterfly. This shrank her collision detection and she slipped through a gap in the net. She immediately retook her beautiful maid form and resumed firing.

The Queen grinned.

“Oh, how reliable. You might be a royal toy who chose to reduce yourself to a useless doll, but I see even you can manage something halfway decent.”

“I’ll blow your brains out. Did you think we’d thank you if you complimented us?” asked young Angela Messenger.

The devil grinned and said, “Oh, you will thank me. After I take control of you.”

(Tch!!)

The fundamental threat of sorcery hacking remained.

Ayato looked to the maids and readied his linkage plug sword.

And at that moment…



“Heh heh. Then what about us?”

“I suppose a monster like this conquering the Static Continent would throw off the intercontinental balance. I certainly don’t want that hideous thing crossing the ocean.”



A bunny girl and a holy woman appeared. The former was Sidney (Goldbank) Mardhazath and the latter was Pope Agatha Canalace Properod.

This war had begun on the Static Continent, but they knew they were next if nothing was done.

So of course they wanted to nip the problem in the bud. Before this horrific war reached their continents.

“Hee hee.”

As if enforcing the dress code at the entrance to a party, the Queen blocked her targets’ escape with those ugly humanoid tentacle shapes and then sent out another bundle of tentacles on course to attack the two intruders along with their her own tentacle soldiers.

“Extend, Plant Spear Parasitio!!”

The floor exploded with the color green.

No. A great quantity of plants had grown from it. And using that as footing, the holy woman and the bunny leaped high into the air.

Several arms emerged from the Queen’s hips, wielding shotguns and handguns, but the women created new platforms to jump out of the way of the fire and water magic launched their way.

“Such a righteous and holy spear. Nee hee hee. Those creepy parasitic plants have really made a name for themselves, huh?”

“H-hey! Are you trying to throw off our coordination!?”

The Pope of the Properod Divine Water Nation complained in her ear, but the President Bunny Girl of the Mardhazath Banking State looked thoroughly amused. Were they old friends or something?

Meanwhile, Sidney (Goldbank) Mardhazath was swinging around a golden axe with both hands. She left deep wounds in the giant plants they were using as platforms and the incoming tentacles. Then a fountain of pure gold coins and decorations burst forth. The eruption of ultra-heavy metal acted as a shield to hold back the incoming attacks while also creating plenty of deadly force.

But…

“Oh, damn. I’m making more money again!!”

The bunny girl clicked her tongue at her own actions and Mamilis tilted her head.

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

“Not really, Miss Dark Elf. Scarcity is everything with gold. The more of it there is, the less it’s all worth, so do this too much and I could bankrupt myself. All the most powerful sorcery devices are like this. It’s a threat capable of shaking the very foundation of our gold standard system, but Asset Axe Filterinda is just too powerful a weapon to give up!!”

Of course, the weapon couldn’t possibly create gold where there was none. Just as a special filter could concentrate the minuscule amounts of precious metals dissolved in the ocean, the axe was gathering up all the microscopic gold dust scattered around the area and creating solid pieces.

And.

Queen Astaroth Revolver laughed.

“I like it.”

She didn’t look like someone facing a new threat.

She had the eyes of a child facing a large pile of toys.

“So I will break it apart and use the designs as inspiration for new weapons. But first…”

The mountain of transparent tentacles wriggled from within.

And something emerged.

(A Shade Swallow…no!?)

“Rank 1 Winged Space Shuttle☆”

They couldn’t even see this one.

What had she combined to create this?

A black guillotine sliced through the air. Ayato obeyed the chill he felt to leap to the side with all his strength, but he wasn’t quick enough. Teleria immediately raised a water barrier, but that was easily broken through. Just as a blade’s edge is dulled by blood, the slight film of water was the only reason he avoided being bisected. But his blessings ended there. The strange wing mercilessly collided with his right shoulder.

He heard an unpleasant crunch.

He was sent rolling along the floor a few times and he couldn’t get back up.

“Don’t you want to be so powerful you can overpower the world, Ayato?”

The Queen was ecstatic.

She raised her thickest tentacle which had swelled out past the limit.

“I will prove to you that you are not and never were the strongest. What you had was only the power I gave you.”

“So without your interference, I couldn’t have taken this bloody path.”

“Oh, such resilience. Which makes you the perfect sample for analyzing love, understanding it on the level of a science, and placing it under my full control. But I do finally understand something. I know exactly what will make you want the ultimate power once more. Ha ha. You would never take that step for yourself. Logical statistical analysis tells me I instead need to beat you until you cannot possibly interfere and then steal away everything you care about while you watch on!!!”

Even as her mocking laughter echoed out, Ayato slowly got to his feet.

He forced his shoulder back into its socket, causing what may have been even more pain than when it dislocated.

This wasn’t over yet.

He still had his linkage plug sword and his monitor crystal tarot cards.

So he could still fight.

“Kee hee hee. Ayato, I will allow your rebelliousness. Humans, demons, the Static Continent, and even the other continents – you could say I love them all.”

Even now, Queen Astaroth Revolver had a sneer on her face.

Perhaps her smile wouldn’t falter even when she died.

“Because without so much diversity in the world, there wouldn’t be any war. The simple fact that different types of people will argue, hate each other, and act on that hatred is the driving force behind war!!”

Continent vs. continent. No, if she played her cards right, she could trigger a great war between all four continents.

Ayato had assumed she was discussing that, but this went further.

“That is why I made sure demons would be hated.”

Humans vs. demons.

They had been neighbors who didn’t even need separate words for each other.

“I snuck into the palace in the guise of a human researcher, stole the top secret data on the maids, remade my own body, and used that power to kill a member of the royal family. One who wanted to be friends with the demons, naturally. True loathing comes from more than just anger and hatred – it comes from fear as well. I proved that there is no safe place for humans. I proved that even the aristocracy could be killed by demons. By making sure the humans viewed demons as a threat, the rest was easy.”

“Coach…”

“You mean you caused the malicious history of an entire continent?”

“Ah ha ha!! I am a sorcery gun!! Maintaining a state of war is the most efficient way to evolve myself as a weapon!! And I will do whatever it takes to do that. I will stand in he way of all who seek peace and stagnation and I will always ruin their plans! Like I am now!!!”

A thick tentacle swung out.

Ayato immediately moved to evade, but then he realized that would leave someone else in danger.

Teleria Nereid Aquamarine.

He couldn’t dodge this!!

A moment later, the great mass dropped down from above.