Book 16 Chapter 32

Science VS Abilities,

Ain's Technology is the Best in the World (3)

"Do you know what swept Rista away?"

Master Tinkerer Niels Blantz guided the hero's party southwest.

One could say it was the path leading to the neck of the Northern Republic, the main stream of the Bellisor River.

As they moved, Friede, who was riding her broom at top speed, kept prying.

"You called it an 'Abyss Bomb,' right? What is that? It's the power of the Abyss, so why isn't there any Abyssal influence?"

Niels, perched on Link's shoulder as Link raced across the ground at incredible speed, spun the teeth of a spanner and said,

"To be precise, you should say he survived after being affected by it."

"What?"

"Didn't you see how the whole area completely decayed? They say the Abyss of the 'Lord of Time' has the power to send objects into the past or future. The Abyss Bomb is a product of that research. They collected its essence, refined it, and made it into a bomb that explodes in one go."

Due to Link's almost coercive protest, Lyn eventually climbed onto his other shoulder, as before, and rested his chin in his left hand.

"To summarize… if you get caught in that explosion, a person disappears without a trace, right? If sent to the past, they'd be in a pre-fetal state, just slime. And the future wouldn't be any different."

"Just as expected from the kid I recognized as the only genius among humans!"

"If you're going to acknowledge me, I'd prefer to be acknowledged as the [Strongest Mage]."

Friede and Niels glared at me dumbfounded, while Link excitedly beat his chest.

"Link, Link, Link!"

Pipi echoed Link's ear-splitting shout.

"Link, Link, Link."

It was a mystery how they became so close so quickly, but I couldn't steer the conversation away from its current context.

"It's exactly as you understood. But Faycarrier's human body modification technology is truly amazing. That body and that holy sword seem to have blocked it head-on. That's why his body only reverted to an infant state."

"So how are you going to fix him?"

"Let me tell you in advance, there's no way in my hideout to fully cure this hero's condition. But I can maintain his current state."

Finally, Link slammed his massive body into the ground like driving a stake, bringing himself to a halt.

Somewhere here, on the border between the Hosen Kingdom and the Republic, there was a completely abandoned old castle, the underground of which Niels had converted into his base.

The door to Niels's base was blocked by scrap metal that couldn't be lifted without Link's brute force (and probably Rista's, too).

"This way."

Link, holding something closer to a brazier than a lantern, crossed the dark underground passage.

Equipment Lyn had never seen before repeatedly appeared in his sight.

Seeing that the technological framework was completely beyond human comprehension, it must have been the legacy of the <Ones Who Came>. Next to them, similar but shoddy-looking items seemed to be imitations Niels had attempted to replicate.

"But why are you helping us?"

Friede asked.

"You're an Ain, after all."

Niels remained silent for a moment, then said,

"I'll help because I owe Lyn… that's what I'll say for now, and my true intention is to tell you once you've received all the help and can't escape, but Link will be different."

"Well… he looks like a battle maniac, so is it like, 'I'm the one who kills Rista'?"

"Wrong. This Link fellow, contrary to his appearance, is very pure. He's not like villains such as you or me. Link, you see, cannot pass by someone who is suffering."

Since he wasn't joking, Friede suppressed the questions swirling in his mind, unable to offer any counterargument.

Finally, the underground passage ended.

In the room Link entered first, there was a massive throne, fit to be called Link's private seat, with dozens of bundles of rubber hoses connected to its backrest and headrest.

"Seat him there. His whole body is only slightly larger than Link's head, so it'll be even easier and faster."

"What are you trying to do?"

"I'm going to stabilize the surging internal pressure within that hero's body. That's the device for it."

Kies seated Rista on the throne.

Niels turned a pulley. It was to lower the pot-like helmet connected to the headrest and connect it to Rista's body.

Friede put a pipe in his mouth, but then, thinking that something might happen, he hung it back on his waist and said,

"I'm sorry to keep asking questions when we're receiving help, but why do you have something like this? Judging by its condition, it looks like you use it almost every time."

Niels plugged something hanging around his neck into the device. It looked like one of the <Ones Who Came>'s artifacts that supplied power. Light began to emanate from the device.

"Link was an experimental subject, you see."

"?"

"The Black Sun Kalenden created beings called the Holy Elmine Knights, whom you revere as heroes, to be biological weapons to build the Abyss."

Friede, who was well-versed in the fragments of mythical history made public, nodded.

"They say the Dragon Race is the same."

While the Ain and humanity had very different understandings of the mythical era, this much was indeed true.

"Yes, Greta Visor got her inspiration from those very Elmine Knights and the Dragon Race."

"Greta Visor?"

"She's a current Adamant-grade mercenary."

Rista's connected hoses began to exert force with a whirring tremor.

"That woman sought to achieve the same feat as Kalenden, to create and establish biological weapons identical to those…"

The power of the Dragon Spirit, which was almost glowing and boiling within his body, was sucked into the device through the rubber hoses.

"The result was the creation of a life form capable of beating even a Demon, the strongest of the Six Great Demonkind, to death. The research codename was 'Demon Slayer'."

It was clear that Niels was not playing tricks and was fulfilling his promise.

"And 'Demon Slayer' experimental subject 'No: 2641' can be called the only success, and that is Link here."

Because Rista's breathing, who had been unconscious and moaning in pain, was gradually stabilizing.

"So Link… was a biological weapon?"

Lyn asked.

Niels grinned.

"Think about it. How could such a giant be born among humans? Even Uruks of that size are rare, perhaps appearing once every thousand years."

Link was a chimera.

Not only Uruk cells but also Troll cells were incorporated.

As a result, he gained a body harder than rock and strength specialized for combat, but…

"Link's situation is the same as this hero's. If he doesn't have his power drained every time, his body is destined to explode and die from the internal pressure."

If that were the end of it, one would consider it a relief.

Link's body was rotting from within. In that process, the power of the Abyss was used to prevent his body from collapsing and instead rebuild itself.

In that inhumane experimental process, Link suffered the greatest side effect of the Abyss: he lost all his memories. With no memories at all, his intelligence level would be only about ten years old.

"That's impossible."

Friede found the story coming from Niels's mouth utterly unbelievable.

"There's no way the Dragon Race would have condoned such an act. Especially not in this Republic area."

Niels recovered the gem he had plugged into the machinery and snorted.

"That palace archer would know. Greta recovered only a few relics from <Trident Point> and then mainly operated on the anti-demon front. The Demon Slayer research was experimented on there."

"…!"

"How about it? You thought he was just big and strong, but now that you know the inside story, does it fill you with revulsion?"

A heavy silence settled.

In this situation, I couldn't find any words to say.

It was Lyn who broke the silence as if it were nothing.

"Whoa, awesome, Link! You were made for the purpose of being the [Strongest]? So you *are* the [Strongest]? That's really super cool! I don't have anything like that."

This crazy kid, even at this very moment, was saying such… It was then that Friede tried to stop him.

"Link, Link, Link!"

Link was beating his chest and laughing! Niels just stared blankly at his reaction.

'I wondered why Link liked Lyn so much from the moment they first met…'

Though their physiques were completely different, their mental age was exactly the same as his own.

'Regardless of race, the overwhelming innocence that only such a young age can possess… was that all he liked?'

Children are simple. They just say it's good if it's strong.

They say it's cool if it's big.

Lyn is called a genius mage, but he is a boy who retains such foolish innocence.

- Proceed. There is no reason for sympathy anywhere. Those are scrap metal. To secure iron for inventions, it is a natural step to melt down useless iron.

Unlike that chillingly realistic woman.

"If I just stop talking and express my feelings with 'Lyn, Lyn, Lyn' from now on, will I seem like the [Strongest]? What do you think? I'm serious."

"Link, Link, Link!"

"Lyn is an idiot, a fool, a moron. Link says that."

"Link! Link! Link!"

"Doesn't seem like it at all? Do you want to die?"

Friede and Link, watching the two boys and one parrot giggling foolishly, let out weak laughs almost simultaneously.

"Sorry. Lyn, he looks smart, but sometimes he's really quite a fool."

"Link is the same, so there's no need to apologize."

Kies was equally impressed by the unspoken innocence at that moment. For different reasons than theirs, gazing into some distant past.

- Kies, I want to have our child.