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Chapter 339: Strengthening Plan, and the Martial God.

[Chronos Noir].

The black [Crown]. Its abilities are time manipulation and interference into parallel worlds.

It’s capable of calling forth a variety of things from different worlds and different timelines, albeit for a short duration (one minute).

Its ability isn’t only limited to objects as well; it can call forth vague concepts such as “weight”, “resistance”, “impact”, or even “an alternate self” with which it can amplify its own powers. Such an amazing ability, however, naturally comes with drawbacks. It can only use its powers at night, and when it does, it also regresses the golem master’s physical age as compensation.

It can also do time manipulation to the degree of seeing several seconds into the future, speeding up its own movements and slowing down that of the opponents; however, it can’t do things like stopping or rewinding time “yet”.

“So basically, ”

Professor Babylon moved from her standing position to the right, then pointed towards the spots where she was standing before and where she is standing now.

“I am currently in this position, labelled A. However, one second ago, I was standing in that position over there, labelled B.”

“Fumu fumu.”

“And another second ago from there, I was in that spot over there, and go back another second I would have been over there. Let’s label those spots C and D. Which means there’s a separate me existing at the four different spots within four different seconds. The power of the black [Crown] is the power to pull things existing in worlds of a different time into its own time. So that means it’s capable of pulling those ‘me’s from one second, two seconds and three seconds ago to itself in this current time, and temporarily affix her position there. Although it’s temporary, it can manifest four of me to exist concurrently in this world.” (Note: damn, we going deep on the spacetime gimmicks.)

Four copies of the professor, what an unpleasant world.

Mm… I can understand what she’s saying, but if the me from a second ago was pulled to this current time, wouldn’t that erase the timeline in which the current me exists?

“The flow of time continues in one single direction, but infinite possible futures exist as branch paths. For example, I am here right now as a single existence, but one second later, there could be the me who moved forward, the me who moved backward, or the me who moved sideways, right? If, right now, I move forward, even if the me who moved in the other directions are called here, my existence wouldn’t be invalidated in any way.”

So basically, things like parallel worlds? You see these topics all the time in movies or mangas about time travelling.

“Time paradox”, right. For example, there’s that “death of parents” scenario: if one goes back in time to before he/she was born, and kills his/her parents, what happens?

In this case, since the parents are dead, the child would not be born, and hence the parents would not have been killed… Such a paradox is born.

However, if the moment the child killed the parents, that world became a new branch of possibility, the paradox would not occur. There would be two distinct parallel worlds, one in which the parents are dead and the child was not born, and one in which the parents are not dead and the child was born.

A “what if” world hiding various possibilities. Being able to interfere in that world, and pull things from it into our current world, would be Noir’s ability.

It’s pretty amazing, isn’t it… If I had fought Noir at night, it might’ve been dangerous… No, there’s still the compensation for the other side to consider, so it isn’t that simple.

“It’s something different from an alternate world, huh.”

“Since they’re essentially the same world after all; they just exist on different timelines. Well, there’s probably some worlds that are very similar to each other among all the worlds the ‘Kami-sama’ you mentioned is managing, and they should be similar to what I’ve just said as well.”

I see. A singular world, but with all of its possibilities, is it? It’s not as if it’s a different world. Just the same world which exists in a different time.

“Is it that power which repelled the Phrase 5000 years ago, I wonder?”

“I wonder indeed. To remove, even temporarily, those Phrases numbering in the hundreds-of- thousands from this world, I don’t think it’s something doable solely using that ability. Dr. Elka has had no luck trying to dig deeper into that side, and Noir itself had memory resets done to it in the past, so there’s nothing we can do. The compensation being what it is, we can’t try it out lightly either.”

The cost of being a Crown Master, huh. The restriction that its ability can only be used at night might actually have acted as a stopper in a good way.

On a side note, the weapons it took out when it fought against me were apparently things made by Dr. Elka, and were not directly connected with Noir’s ability.

In the case of Noir, every time it uses its golem skill, its master, Norn, has her physical age regress. The reason for her appearance despite being 15 is due to that.

At a glance, it may be a fantastic ability that can achieve perpetual youth, but if you overuse it and regress to a fetus, that’s not any different from dying.

That her physical age looks to be around 6 or 7 means that this ability had already eaten 8 or 9 years of her growth.

It’s a scary compensation the more I think about it. It can be mitigated somewhat by her natural growth, though. (Note: wait, does this mean the user can be immortal?)

While she has her reasons, matters regarding her age and height are taboo to her. After that incident earlier, while she did apologize, apparently she would still reflexively attack if it happens again. (Heard from Noir.)

Right, one of the movies I watched before had a protagonist that gets pissed when people call him a coward. That movie was also about stuff like time machines and related topics, come to think of it. Maybe they’re relatives… No way that’s the case. (Note: a Back to the Future reference, apparently. Thanks to a kind reader for pointing it out.)

Dr. Elka was subjected to a lengthy preaching/punishing session by an angry Norn. Still, within her words are glimpses of worry and concern for her sister, and from that I can tell that she doesn’t truly hate Elka. She’s a tsundere, isn’t she?… Or maybe not in this case.

“And so, what’s the young lady Norn doing now?”

“Since Dr. Elka isn’t going to leave Babylon anytime soon, she’s decided to stay here in the Surface World for now. She declined when I asked her if she wants to live in the castle, and apparently booked a room in [Silver Moon].”

“Fumu. It helps a lot for us to have a [Crown] in the vicinity. I’d be thankful if it could cooperate with us for some of our future plans. Well, leaving that aside for now.”

The professor picked up the bundles of paper left on top of the table within [Laboratory], and flipped through them. Those papers are copies of the journal left by the founding king of Primula, Relios Palerius.

“The white [Crown] was left in this world… Huh. You’ve already tried searching for it, of course?”

“Ah. And as you can probably guess, there were no hits. I’ve already seen the [Red], [Blue], [Black] and [Purple], and all of them had similar traits to each other… It’s unlikely for the [White] alone to be very different.”

If my search magic couldn’t find it, that means either its outer appearance has changed drastically, or it’s behind a barrier.

The master of the [Black] and [White] that came 5000 years ago might’ve sealed it somewhere.

“Regarding that mysterious previous master too, there’s one thing that concerns me. The compensation for the ability of the black [Crown], regression of its master’s physical age. And it was used in some way to repel that huge number of Phrase 5000 years ago. No matter how you think about it, the compensation required should be huge. Even if the master was extremely old, it shouldn’t have been surprising for him to regress into a fetus.”

“So you’re saying that that previous master had died at that point after overusing the ability of Noir?”

“No, since there’s the possibility that that previous master was a member of a long-lived race, we can’t make any conclusions. However, I was thinking of another possibility. Could the

compensation for the ability of the white [Crown] be the exact opposite of that of the black [Crown]?”

Eh? The opposite of regression… You mean [Progression]?

“Or, in this case, [Aging]. What I’m saying is, it could be possible for the master to not have to offer any compensations if both the [Black] and the [White] are used together… Well, it’s just conjecture.”

[Becoming younger] and [Aging]. Opposite compensations. A plus and a minus… Or rather, in this case, it’s two minuses multiplying together to become a plus.

It’s just pure conjecture at this point anyway, so there’s not much meaning in thinking about it.

“Oh, how’s the golem strengthening plan coming along?”

“Well, somewhat decently. I’ve got a sample model here.”

The professor then carried a robot-like model, with a head and limbs attached to a large marble-like transparent crystal sphere in the center, over here.

The overall design is different from that of a Frame Gear, and gives off a somewhat rugged feel. It has no coloring, probably because it’s a sample. There are places here and there where a transparent piece was included in the design; I guess those places are designed to be made using crystal materials.

“First, the master is enveloped in a special gel which has high magic transmission efficiency, then that is amplified in each… Well, we can leave the details for the moment. Anyways, this can produce power and mobility on par with a Frame Gear, and also strengthen the golem skill of the user’s golem in theory.”

“Hee.”

“However, we have to proceed carefully with experiments involving [Crown] golems. It wouldn’t be a laughing matter if the compensation is also amplified together with the skills.”

That’s true. Especially for Norn’s Noir and Nia’s Rouge, if that really turns out to be the case, the compensation would become something horrible.

“Can a normal golem use this as well?”

“No problem. Using this core part as the base, we can build different models by switching out parts. For example, if we use Elka-kun’s Fenrir as a base, it would turn into an animal-type model like this.”

While saying that, the professor popped off the limbs and head from the model she’s holding, and grabbed some other parts before pushing the new parts into the now-empty slots.

In no time at all, the formerly humanoid robot had become a four-legged wolf-shaped robot. By exchanging parts, it can be customized to a large degree, huh.

With this, basically any kind of golem can be used, is it? No, as expected something like the crab bus from Sancho-san’s place should be impossible.

Still, this is going to become quite the edge in fighting against the variants. Even if the golem is not at the level of the [Crown] series, defeating variants should become possible. The Reverse World’s barrier is in better condition compared to the Surface World, so I don’t think any tough enemies will show up there. Even so, having countermeasures is a lot better compared to not having them in case of emergencies.

“Around how close are you to completion?”

“About… 60%, I’d say. Well, like I mentioned earlier, we need to go through more adjustments and experiments with regards to the [Crown] golems, so that side is still going to take some time.”

Around there, huh. I don’t want to force them to hurry, but it’d be bad if we end up one step behind our opponents. I can only tell them to do the best they can.

After that, I left the [Laboratory], and headed towards the castle in [Ramparts]. I’d like to hear a conclusion from the group over here as well…

“Ya, Touya. Long time no see.”

“It’d be good for today’s dinner to be katsudon, I think.”

“We ate that two days ago, Mel-sama. Personally, I’d like some ramen.”

“Fish. Sashimi is good. Together with some steaming rice.”

I sighed a little while looking at the four of them who had completely settled in. What is this uselessly high adaptability… I don’t even want to retort at how much they’ve become used to here.

“… In the end, has your talks finished?”

I asked Ende that question while looking at the other three. The Phrase’s [Sovereign], Mel, was nibbling on cookies while drinking tea; sitting opposite her, the two ruler-class sisters, Nei and Rize, were stuffing themselves with something resembling an apple pie.

“Well, as you can see, we’re still trying to decide on tonight’s menu.”

“Not that, you idiot.”

Ende raised his hands in an exaggerated surrendering pose. Also, to be worrying about the menu for tonight’s dinner while eating snacks… There’s something wrong there, you know.

“I’m fine with anything as long as I can be together with Endymion.”

“I still wish for Mel-sama to return to Phrasia. Many of our brethren also wish the same.”

“No, I already said I’m no longer the [Sovereign]…”

So they’re still drawing parallels. Nothing has progressed, isn’t it… Please don’t tell me all you guys did here was eating?

Aside from Ende, the three ruler-class girls seem to have become charmed by the unknown experience known as eating, and are now living a life where they look forward to three meals a day plus snack times in between.

Well, they can’t convert what they eat into energy unlike normal living beings so they’re basically eating for the taste, but at first they asked for huge amounts each time. It was unbearable for us since they’re eating more than even Yae. As expected, something like ten whole cows per person per day isn’t something I can ignore.

After a while, once they’ve become more used to the act of eating, they started reducing the amount they eat, but the three of them combined are still eating up enough food to feed 10 people.

These guys are just eating free meals, courtesy of us. I’d like to kick them out as soon as I can, but if they get caught by the variants or the evil god somewhere it’d be trouble for us as well…

And not giving them food… Feels like bullying and doesn’t give me a good feeling.

“Has anything happened on the outside?”

“Nothing much for now. The variants have begun to appear more frequently over in the Reverse World, though.”

While answering Ende, I sat down opposite the sofa he’s sitting back on currently. It feels like having a termite problem in your home. You don’t see any obvious signs, but one day the whole house may just collapse on itself due to all the termite damage.

“Have the Phrases all been absorbed into the ranks of the variants?”

“At least, the ones Nei and the others brought along. I’d say their numbers are around several hundred thousand. The number of Phrases that’s been ‘eaten’ by the variants, that is.”

Several hundred thousand… That’s a lot. Plus, from what I’ve heard, lower-class Phrases can start multiplying if left alone for a long time. I just hope that particular aspect hasn’t been strengthened when they became variants…

Still, that means I won’t be getting anymore crystal materials, huh. I still have mountain-loads of them, but I’ve gotta start thinking about their usages more carefully now.

Anyways, these guys sure are used to their imprisonment lives. Since the Phrase are probably long-lived, I wonder if they’re used to boredom.

Then again, Mel had apparently been borrowing books from the [Library] manager, Fam, and reading them.

Similar to Professor Babylon and Dr. Elka, she’s one of those people others call “geniuses”, and has an outstanding comprehension ability.

She was the one who had devised the method that allowed the Phrase to travel across worlds, too. Although one can’t really tell that from looking at her wolfing down katsudons.

Like what they say, there’s a fine line between genius and whatnot.

“Anyways, Touya. Isn’t it about time you let us out of here?”

“You… Didn’t I tell you that if Mel and the others step out of this [Prison], the variants would be able to pinpoint their location? Are you trying to bring harm to this country?”

“No, nothing of the sort. I understand that much; I’m asking if you can let me alone outside.”

Un… Well, Ende wouldn’t do something like leaving Mel behind and running away. It’s easy for me to change the setting of the [Prison] to allow free movement for Ende alone. But why?

“Training… I guess. I also have some semblance of pride in me too. If a chance to fight those twins comes to me again, I want to become strong enough to win at that time.”

By “those twins”, I’m guessing he’s talking about the twin ruler-class that beat him up last time. The two who sided with Yura and became variants.

He’s looking at me with sincere eyes; guess he really was frustrated about his loss.

Well, if he’s going to go train by himself, I don’t really mind…

“Good attitude!”

““Uwaa!?””

I raised my voice simultaneously with Ende reflexively when a man suddenly appeared besides us with a flash of light, and shouted that in a loud voice.

His age is around thirty. Short hair, and a well-trained muscle beneath dogi-like clothing. A headband on his forehead, thick eyebrows and sharp eyes, as well as a tightly closed mouth; no matter how you look at him, this man standing besides me can only be described as a martial artist.

To be able to invade my [Prison], just who is he!?

“Aah!? Y-you are…!”

“You know him, Ende?”

“It’s this person! When I obtained those divine swords, he was the one who beat me up after that!”

“It’s been a while, young man!”

The martial artist laughed with a somewhat annoying smile. (Note: annoying, in this case, as in one of those overly-passionate types.)

The one who beat Ende up… Wait a second, isn’t that…

“Don’t tell me… the Martial God…?”

“Exactly! I have descended here in human form in order to realize the wish of that young man over there!”

Hai, the seventh god is here—!

Aren’t we overpopulated already… What, are they aiming for something like a Seven Gods of Fortune of this world? Would he be at Bishamonten’s spot then? I guess Karen nee-san would be something like Benzaiten…?

“Since I’m here now, you can leave everything to me. I’ll carve the meaning of strength into your body!” (Note: that’s not what training is supposed to sound like…)

Ende who got pointed at by the Martial God was pointing at himself as well while wearing a “you mean me!?” kind of face.

Oh right, World God-sama mentioned before that he wanted to take Ende as his disciple or something. Could he have been waiting for a good timing to descend?

I feel bad for Ende, but I’ll refrain from butting in. I’ll let the Martial God train him as much as he wants. Ende wants to get strong himself too, so it’s perfect; you don’t get to become the disciple of a god that easily, you know?

…It’s enough to have one person as sacrifice.

- Pixel