I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 492

A freight train burrowing into the earth like an earthworm before soaring skyward.

The front section, which used to be the engine room, was fitted with a grinder intended to pulverize everything.

I could practically feel Skuld’s resolve not just to swallow us whole, but to thoroughly disassemble us.

’Seriously, this is way too much.’

Such a thought crossed my mind.

Couldn’t she just quietly let us leave the city? We had zero intention of fighting.

I wanted to shout this out, but that stubborn artificial intelligence didn’t bother asking for our intentions.

She merely carried out what she was commanded to do. Truly a judgment typical of an AI.

[Was there such a atrocious thing even during your time?! Aris preserve us! They created a Giant Sand Worm!]

"It’s my first time seeing it too!"

At the terrifying grandeur of the train monster—no, the mechanical earth dragon—even Cain gasped in horror.

A Giant Sand Worm. I had seen one before in the desert across the river.

I had fired a Mythricon arrow under the guise of an experiment, only to awaken a sleeping Sand Worm.

After that, the creature spewed yellow dust over us to tell us never to pull a stunt like that again.

And whatever structure that freight train had, it felt like fighting that very Sand Worm.

Seueueuk-

The mechanical Sand Worm alone was shocking, but what truly horrified us was the path it left behind.

No matter how the mechanism worked, Mechanical Knights were crawling up from the road it had plowed through.

I didn’t know whether Mechanical Knights were waiting on standby inside the train, or if there was a factory under the street floor.

"Ignore the mechanical Sand Worm! We can’t find a countermeasure right now!"

"Can we even kill it?!"

Lackey shouted while blocking the Mechanical Knights’ harassments with his Mythricon gauntlets.

Honestly speaking, I didn’t have the confidence to subdue that colossal, agile mechanical Sand Worm either.

However, if we didn’t take it down, we would face a crisis far beyond mere hardship—we’d lose our lives.

’It definitely has a weak point. Even if it’s an artificial intelligence, it’s not perfect.’

Didn’t I just say so? Even an AI is ultimately something created by humanity.

Humans can never be perfect beings, and artificial intelligences, being their creations, cannot be perfect either.

We were just flustered because of the sheer initial impact; if we look closely, we can find a strategy.

[I now understand how the gods claimed victory over the dragons! Even against massive hordes, having things like that allowed them to defend!]

"They didn’t just fight dragons?"

[Dragons are the rulers of monsters! Reptilian monsters are all descendants of dragons!]

Kwajik!

Thanks for the kind explanation. Cain appropriately cleared up the question I held.

If dragons fought with numbers, ancient humanity would also have fought back with numbers.

Furthermore, according to Vanir’s remarks, telecommunications were the single greatest factor.

Kugugugugu!

The mechanical Sand Worm tore through the street and charged right at us.

Just the vibration it generated made it hard to keep balance, and to make matters worse, Mechanical Knights swarmed us simultaneously.

’Should I lure the mechanical Sand Worm into crashing into a building?’

I rejected this idea. It would simply obliterate the building with the massive grinder on its front.

If anything, the collapse of that building would more likely bring disaster down upon us.

’Or should I slice downward with my sword right after dodging?’

I rejected this too. One wrong move and my own palm might be ripped apart.

There was no telling what material the freight train was made of, and its acceleration momentum couldn’t be ignored.

No matter how strong my power was, I had no intention of disregarding the laws of physics.

’The remaining method is....’

Kwaaaaang!

While sorting out my thoughts, the mechanical Sand Worm burst out from underground.

However, this time it didn’t pounce on us. It simply shot out of the ground and faced toward the sky.

Looking at it now, it resembled a giant pillar erected vertically. The problem was that this wasn’t the end of it.

Jiiiing-

An ominous noise resonated from its grinder-fitted mouth.

Since it was staring directly at us, I could figure out what was taking place.

Kiiiiiiing!

"Wow. Holy shit."

Blue mana was gradually condensing. Goosebumps erupted all over my body.

If hit directly by that, maybe not me, but the others wouldn’t even have bones left behind. What then?

"Everyone behind me!"

I had no choice but to tank it. At my shout, my companions took cover behind my back.

Seeing mana condense in the mechanical Sand Worm’s mouth, they must have instinctively sensed the danger as well.

Cain also sensibly wrapped his arms around the others—especially the young ones—to keep them from harm.

Kwaaaaaa!!!

A powerful blast of energy erupted from the mechanical Sand Worm’s mouth.

I threw up Body-Protecting Gangqi and coated the Sword of the Heavenly Demon with an Aura Blade, defending with everything I had.

"Eugeugeuk...!"

This is tough. The moment I blocked the laser, that thought took over.

I rarely felt overwhelmed, but this far exceeded my expectations.

It wasn’t a laser meant to crush downwards, but felt like a colossal awl drilling continuously into a single point.

A serious fracture almost broke through my Aura Blade, threatening total collapse, but I barely managed to hold on.

Kkadeuk!

Was it because I gritted my teeth so hard? The sound of a molar cracking echoed clearly.

Fortunately, that momentary pang of pain snapped my dizzying consciousness back to focus.

A metallic coppery scent of blood filled my mouth, and my body burned as if overheated.

Jiiiing-You are reading on nov⁠elping.com, the official source.

As a single second stretched like an entire year, the mechanical Sand Worm finally ceased its laser barrage.

Barely spitting out my held breath, I peeked upward to check its condition.

Could it not spew lasers indefinitely either? Its mouth region was glowing bright red.

As expected of a machine, sustaining high-output attacks for too long caused it to overheat.

Kwareureureuk!

To resolve the overheating, the beast retreated back underground.

Shortly after, Mechanical Knights poured out en masse from the subterranean hole it had dug.

They were tiresome bastards, but this was actually preferable. It allowed us to regroup.

"Is everyone okay?"

[Thanks to you.]

Fortunately, none of my companions suffered major injuries. Fearing they might get hurt, I had cranked my aura output to the absolute maximum.

Taking advantage of this window, I chugged about half a bottle of Elixir. The mana depleted just now felt slightly replenished.

’To drink an Elixir and only have it refill a tiny bit....’

It meant my mana capacity had ballooned beyond imagination. Even I couldn’t estimate it.

Yet that attack just now had visibly consumed a noticeable chunk of my mana.

Though the enemy had temporarily retreated due to overheating, there was no telling when it might unleash such an attack again.

’It won’t make the exact same attack. It’ll probably analyze us.’

Skuld might not possess autonomous learning like Cain, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t run analytical calculations.

Hence, she would analyze why that attack failed to take us down.

Even if she executed a similar attack, there was a high chance she’d adopt a different methodology.

An AI created by ancient humans would certainly function like that.

’Therefore, I have to take it down in one blow.’

I caught my breath. Perhaps because I blocked that laser earlier, my hands trembled slightly.

Right now, my companions were dividing roles among themselves to smash the Mechanical Knights.

I ought to lend a hand as well, but my plan changed.

"Everyone. Can you hear out a crazy idea of mine?"

"Crazy idea or whatever, just do something! Master! Nobody else can do it except Master!"

Lackey shouted while ripping a Mechanical Knight’s face clean off its body.

The rest of the group was no different. Ludwig signaled with a glance for me to handle it as I saw fit.

[Had my true body been intact, it might be different, but with this vessel, I cannot think of a way to face that monster.]

"There’s also the method of stuffing Cain-ssi’s main core inside that thing."

[Seeing you joke around, you seem to be fine still.]

"No. I’m dead serious. Though it’s a last-of-the-last resort."

I wasn’t bluffing; it was real. If worst came to worst, I planned to throw Cain’s stone statue right into the grinder.

That machine was ultimately following Skuld’s directives. If Cain could disrupt it even slightly, I intended to capitalize on that window.

Naturally, Cain reacted to my plan with utter flabbergast. It was essentially a suicide mission.

[What’s even more absurd is that it feels like it might actually work.]

"Didn’t you pull reckless stunts all the time back when you were alive?"

[That I did.]

Kkwadeuk!

Cain continued while shattering a Mechanical Knight with his coffin flail.

[Which is precisely why I was able to be chosen by Aris-nim.]

"I don’t want to be chosen."

[Instead, you want to live. Is that not so?]

Spot on. I chuckled softly before hardening into a serious expression.

With no telling when the mechanical Sand Worm might crash down on us, we had to stay vigilant every second.

Yet like this, I couldn’t aim for a decisive finishing blow. On top of that, my mana was being visibly consumed.

’Even I can’t easily push the mana inside my body to its absolute maximum right now.’

My body could withstand it. It was the Sword of the Heavenly Demon that couldn’t handle the strain.

One wrong step and the blade would be ruined beyond repair.

Therefore, I had to concentrate on channeling an even greater density of aura into the sword somehow.

"I’m going to concentrate, so please guard me."

At that request, my companions naturally formed a defensive ring around me.

Bbareumbo, who was clinging to my back, also climbed down to the ground. Thanks to that, establishing our formation became far smoother than before.

Kwareureureuk!

In the meantime, the mechanical Sand Worm chewed up the street as it charged toward us.

It was a situation where anyone would become anxious. Yet I stilled my mind.

’The Heavens are....’

The Heavenly Demon Divine Art taught to me by the Heavenly Demon. Phrases beyond the third stanzas were still unknown to me.

Yet even with just the third stanza, my power had achieved a dramatic transformation.

The third stanza in particular was uniquely suited for governing my excessively vast power.

The power of the heavens is infinite; striving to grasp that power in one’s palm.

Heavenly Demon had mentioned it: my power was so bloated that even she considered it abnormal.

Normally, one ought to master all the mana—the Internal Energy inside the body—using the third stanza.

’But I can’t do that. It’s close to impossible.’

I slowly closed my eyes.

Could I never advance to the fourth stanza even if I died and came back? That wasn’t it.

While the weapon could not endure my mana, my own body could.

Which meant that if I unified myself and the weapon into one, the weapon too could withstand my power.

It sounds easy in words. And as always, what sounds easy is the hardest to execute.

’Entrusting one’s body to the heavens. In that case, this weapon....’

Let’s sink it into my body.

Instead of pouring water into a bottomless dam, submerge the bottomless dam into a vast lake to fill it to the brim.

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My mind, devoid of idle thoughts, filled solely with pure intent.

Whether answering my mind’s call or merely an illusion...

When I opened my closed eyes, an enormous Aura Blade was wrapped around the Sword of the Heavenly Demon.

It hadn’t wrapped around just the Sword of the Heavenly Demon. My body, which should have been coated in Body-Protecting Gangqi...

Instead of hard Body-Protecting Gangqi, an Aura Blade enveloped my entire body.

"What on earth... is this...?"

[Unity of Sword and Body...? No. No, it’s not. Not entrusting the body to the sword, but entrusting the sword to the body... What on earth? What just happened?]

"Master. Sparkle sparkle shining."

I didn’t even understand my own state, so those around me were in even more of an uproar.

Yet there was no time to get lost in thought. Little time remained before the mechanical Sand Worm burst out from underground.

I couldn’t split its body in two with a single casual slash like Heavenly Demon or Ash.

Then what should I do? Should I just watch?

Kwagwagwaga!!!

I glared at the grinder spinning fiercely in its mouth. An illusion arose as though time were flowing slowly.

Yet even within slowed time, my body moved swiftly. Right now, my companions were behind me.

"Everyone, dodge to the side!"

Shouting that out, I charged headlong at the mechanical Sand Worm.

Seen from afar, it must look like a suicidal reckless act. But I had a plan too.

’Even in this state, leaping inside that thing would be insane.’

To escape this city, it was best to conserve a baseline minimum of strength.

Thus, I had to smash that damned mechanical worm using optimal strength if possible.

Therefore....

Hwiik!

I lightly dodged the creature charging in gleefully. It was definitely not because I got scared all of a sudden.

Quite the opposite. I wanted to utilize the momentum of its violent charge against it.

"Hraaagh!!!"

To hell with swordsmanship. I pushed forward with pure strength alone.

I swung the blade like a baseball bat. The target was precisely the center of its face.

Kkwadeuk!

The gigantic Aura Blade surrounding my weapon collided with the grinder.

Kwddeudeudeuk!!!

In that state, the train split right down the middle.

I almost got flung backward by the recoil force.

Enduring stubbornly, I pushed forward. All kinds of debris scattered to the sides.

Kwareureureuk! Kkwadeuk! Kwddeudeudeuk!

Given its length, the train took quite a long time to split completely.

Though it felt like an eternity, at a certain moment, no recoil force was felt in my hands anymore.

I wondered if I had dropped my sword, but that wasn’t it at all. The Sword of the Heavenly Demon was still gripped firmly in my hand.

Kwareureuk....

Only the mechanical Sand Worm, split clean in half, lay forlornly on the street.

I didn’t even know when that huge, long monster had turned out like that. My mind had been consumed solely by the single thought of cutting it in half.

"Cut... the train in half..."

Having briefly lost my mind, gibberish spilled from my mouth.

However, that was only temporary. My relatively unharmed companions approached me.

"Master! Are you hurt anywhere?!"

[You have truly pulled off a monumental feat!]

Excluding the young ones, everyone bore minor injuries. Well, it must have been tough handling that sheer wave of numbers.

I let out a weak chuckle and brought out the Elixir. Now that everything seemed over....

[Warning. Warning. Defense system collapse.]

[Executing final protocol.]

...It wasn’t over? A chill ran down my spine.

If even the mechanical Sand Worm wasn’t the final boss, what on earth was the true final boss?

Ddddd!

In this dazed situation, a monumental shift took place across the city.

When the mechanical Sand Worm surfaced, only the road dimensions shifted.

Right now, it was far worse. The towering skyscrapers literally melted down.

Not just the buildings, but even the mechanical Sand Worm we had just slain dissolved into liquid and coalesced toward a single point.

Before long, the things that melted like liquid merged into one, expanding to a size beyond comprehension.

Yet its shape was unmistakably clear: the Mechanical Knights we had fought until we were sick of them.

[Initiating final protocol.]

A gigantic Mechanical Knight, the kind seen only in movies or comic books.

It proudly asserted its terrifying presence right before us.

Cheolkeok!

I thought it was a headless knight like Cain. However, the research facility floating in the sky took on the role of its head, unifying with the knight.

That wasn’t all. The skyscraper tower acting as the city’s landmark...

As the knight reached out to touch that landmark, its outer shell peeled away, transforming into a gargantuan sword.

"...Master."

"I know."

Kuuung!

The knight took a single step forward. A fierce gale blew over us.

The thought that this was truly getting out of hand crossed my mind for a brief second.

"Run."

We were nothing more than mice before an absolute predator.