Chapter 110.5 "Ragnarok of Resonance
Crimson flames licked the glassified cobblestones of the royal capital. The boundary of the sky‚ melting from ultramarine into jet black‚ turned murky and viscous‚ and the air reeked of a sweet stench of death mixed with scorched iron and blood. The only thing piercing the skin was an absolute‚ taut silence. Two shadows confronting each other.
"Eliminate the impurities (the world)."
With Kyle's flat declaration‚ his eyes dyed crimson. The gripped demonic sword 《Ragnarok》 pulsed with a sickening throb.
The boy in the jet-black coat opposite him—his body‚ now turned into a fully automatic debugging system (Computation God) solely to maintain the world—flashed emotionless‚ pale light across his retinas and quietly deployed multiple magic circles for interception into the void. Words were no longer needed for either of them.
The collision was instantaneous. Ragnarok's flash swung down. But no one was there anymore.
『Ultimate Technique: Movement to Optimal Coordinates Completed』
Five steps ahead in space‚ Louie was expressionlessly deploying a new technique. He had not evaded after seeing the attack. Before the attack could even take shape‚ he had perfectly calculated and exited the very "future where it would hit."
——However‚ the principle of termination stands above 'computation.'
Ragnarok was a sword of laws that captured not the future trajectory but 'existence itself.' Even if one abandoned the future where it would hit‚ it would not lose sight of the target. The torrent twisted the laws of space like a living creature with a will and pursued Louie.
『Warning: Output error in barrier technique. Definition has been erased (lost).』
Ciel's automatic interception lasers attempted to precisely shoot down the approaching scarlet trajectory. But in the face of the "principle of reduction" that returned calculation itself to nothingness‚ even the highest-order geometric barriers deployed were swallowed into the void like scraps of paper.
Blade and barrier clashed at zero distance. A super-high-frequency metallic screech vibrated the eardrums‚ and the stagnant scarlet and pale geometric patterns—the boundary of their rivalry (spark)—tore through space. In the midst of the limit of equilibrium.
From the boy's throat trembling under the demonic sword's pressure‚ a hoarse scream burst forth.
"Louie...!"
From the abyss of Ragnarok‚ a voice like vomiting blood rose up.
"Now..."
"Kill... me!!"
The moment he detected the soul's cry (anchor) of his former best friend‚ Leon Valks‚ as an audio waveform‚ Ciel's cold system log was hammered into Louie's brain.
『"Leon Valks" rescue signal (self-erasure request) detected from external audio waveform——』
『Temporary quantum resonance (Sync) will now begin』
[ Sync Rate: 0.0% ── 4.5% ── 12.8% ── 22.1% ]
[ Warning: 7.9% remaining until personality crash limit ]
『Simultaneous computation: Calculating the most efficient environmental debugging (K-Y-L-E elimination) route——』
[ Kill Option Available ]
[ Target: Kyle ]
[ Priority: MAX ]
[ Execution: APPROVE (Y/N) ? ]
Red-black noise ran across the pale blue eyes with a crack. Beep‚ beep‚ beep-beep——. The retinal UI flickered violently‚ and the pupils repeated contraction and expansion at a speed impossible for humans.
The pseudo-OS (Ciel)'s cold‚ rational computation defined the best friend as an "irreparable bug." It was about to automatically execute (APPROVE) the optimal solution to pierce that heart most efficiently.
A dissonance (noise) that seemed to tear the world apart roared fiercely in his brain.
(......Leon)
After school. Sunset. A dusty training room. A magic outburst. A face turned completely black.
"Pfft... Louie‚ look at your face!"
The three of them rolled around laughing. The memory of an imperfect‚ warm time when he laughed and said‚ "Your calculations always end with an unnecessary punchline."
Just 0.02 percent. But that very 'stain of memory' began to destroy the Computation God's perfection from within. The pale blue eyes flickered violently like broken instruments.
The brain UI spewed red warning lights as the absolute rational system built by Ciel clashed violently with the human soul that had overflowed from the miniature garden.
[ Warning: Personality Crash Limiter Activated── ]
[ Physical load on brain cells has greatly exceeded capacity── ]
[ Sync Rate: 22.1% (Warning: 7.9% remaining until personality crash limit) ]
[ Execution: APPROVE (Erase Kyle)? ]
[ YES ]
[ ── YES ]……[ ── NO ]
"──《Override》...!"
Louie's shout‚ carrying muddy emotions that broke through the inorganic synthesized voice‚ echoed across the royal capital.
"I don't want to...! I won't kill him. I'll only debug the path of Ragnarok...!"
For an instant‚ a severe lag (stagnation) occurred across the entire Computation God system. Ciel's system voice wavered as if detecting an unbelievable fatal error.
[ Warning: Command override by Master authority confirmed── ]
[ Error: 'Non-lethal' is extremely inefficient and will drastically lower Master (Lord Louie)'s survival probability── ]
[ Judgment: ......Accept the corresponding error as a 'noble bug' (Accept) ]
『──《Release》. Shifting to Second Plan (neutralization of target).』
"Ciel. From now on... I will physically 'sever' only that demonic sword without harming Leon."
From Louie's feet‚ magic circuits of light shot up toward the heavens‚ covering the burning sky of the royal capital with a massive geometric pattern. Amid the super-high-frequency metallic screech that made the air creak like glass‚ the scent that tickled his nostrils was the sweet smell of scorched honey. It was the lingering echo of everyday life in a smoky inn—the only anchor that rejected the optimal solution of the cold reality (system).
『To minimize physical damage to the surroundings‚ construction of a super-wide-area shield will now begin── 』
The pale technique tore through the murky scarlet heatwave and transformed into a dome of light covering the entire royal capital.
Facing that sight‚ Kyle readjusted his blood-soaked demonic sword. Deep in his eyes‚ Leon's faint rationality and Ragnarok's principle of termination clashed‚ casting a dark shadow.
"Louie... why won't you shoot? If you don't kill me‚ everything—including this world—will simply return to nothingness."
"Leon. Your sword has no play in it. ...That's why I'll cut that path with my calculations."
The sky physically split. Thousands. Tens of thousands. Pale blue multiple magic circles filled the sky above the royal capital.
Tens of thousands of sights‚ adjusted with extreme coordinate correction so they would never hit Kyle's moving body. All of them were aimed at just one swing——only the demonic sword 《Ragnarok》.
The pale magic circuits raced across the sky‚ stitching the burning royal capital's heavens into a massive dome shape. The deployed super-wide-area barrier was a cage meant to protect innocent citizens from the aftershocks of the God of Destruction and confine the damage inside.
But in exchange‚ a despairing load rushed into Louie's cranial nerves as if millions of formulas were being directly burned in. Cold sweat ran down his temples. His vision flickered intensely white‚ but the system (Ciel) prioritized the master's survival and continued coldly blocking pain data.
[ Super-wide-area barrier‚ deployment rate: 89% ── ]
[ Maintenance mana computation: Consuming over 420% of steady-state value ── ]
[ Computation area (CPU) usage: 98.7% ]
[ Warning: Brain nerve thermal runaway (meltdown) detected. Immediate task termination recommended ── ]
Ignoring Ciel's mechanical warnings‚ Louie fixed his target solely on the pulsing 《Ragnarok》. Kyle‚ expression unchanged‚ charged forward‚ exploding the ground. The scarlet-black demonic sword that tore through the air sliced away the approaching threads of light along with the space itself.
"It's futile‚ Louie. The very calculations you use to try to preserve order are the contradiction of this world itself."
With a low rumble like the earth groaning‚ Kyle's strike slammed into the zenith of the half-constructed wide-area shield. A tremendous roar‚ like a sledgehammer driven into a glass orb‚ echoed across the royal capital's sky. Red-black cracks ran across the shield like a spiderweb‚ and from them seeped "terminus mana" like burning mud.
(Repair)
(Overlay)
(Still... not enough...!)
Without a moment's delay‚ he overlaid new techniques onto the damaged sectors. Double‚ triple‚ fivefold. Formulas raining from above forcibly stitched and froze the cracks.
『Kyle's attack waveform analysis complete. ......Targeting only the physical trajectory of the demonic sword.』
Just as simulated in his brain‚ the thousands of floating light arrays converged all at once.
[ Target Lock. ]
[ Target: Kyle ]……[ ── Override. ]
[ Recalculating aim. ]
[ Target: 《Ragnarok》 (blade section only) ]
What was released was an ultra-small‚ ultra-high-density optimized laser aimed solely at pinpoint-erasing the sword's blade so as not to injure Kyle's body even by a single millimeter. Thousands of spears of light painted the royal capital's darkness white as they rushed toward Kyle's hand.
However‚ the demonic sword Kyle wielded swept away even those precise threads of light in a single stroke with the principle of "erasure of existence." Scattering sparks. Melting and exploding cobblestones. Only the dry impact sounds despairingly shook the world.
"──Target still maintains high output. One step short of reaching forced mana expulsion from Ragnarok."
Kyle did not miss the fatal 'gap (bug)' while Louie was devoting most of his computation area to shield repair and precision fire. He concentrated mana into a single point on Ragnarok and turned the sword directly toward him. The 'terminus wave' that returned the world to nothingness roared with immense heat‚ intending to erase Louie's body along with the system.
The red-black torrent painted everything in his field of vision from scarlet to murky lead color as it approached with absolute 'termination.'
The brain OS began spewing error logs at insane speed into the corner of his retinas.
[ Warning: Terminus wave detected. Attempting mana waveform analysis ── ]
[ ── Failure. The target's law (deletion code) is physically deleting (deleting) this system's computation area itself ]
[ Computation: Invalid (ERROR). Evasion impossible ── ]
Calculations were being erased. The principle of optimization itself was being uprooted by the terminus law called Ragnarok. 0.2 seconds until collision.
(......Multi-link barriers‚ construct!)
Burning every last remaining computation resource to the limit‚ he forcibly inserted a "ten-layer arithmetic barrier" into the space before his eyes. Pale light rings overlapped at terrifying speed into ten layered shields.
Immediately after‚ the scarlet-black wave made contact with the outermost shield. The air let out a hair-raising shriek like glass being crushed in a vise and creaked. It was less a sound and more a physical scream of space itself being torn apart. At the boundary where light and darkness clashed‚ formulas melted into the murky heatwave.
The first layer exploded like glasswork in an instant. Without pause‚ the second‚ third‚ and fourth layers were pulverized simultaneously.
[ Warning: Ten-layer barrier sequentially lost. Remaining: Five ── ]
[ Brain nerve operating rate exceeding allowable limit by 180%. Maintaining mental protection protocol is difficult ── ]
The computation area was burning out. Thoughts turned white. Only the formulas were collapsing.
His vision flickered violently between black and white‚ and a trickle of lukewarm blood slid from the corner of one eye onto the cobblestones. Synchronization of the five senses blurred. The sense of touch across his entire body receded as if submerged in muddy water‚ and only a floating sensation slipped into the gaps. Still‚ he clenched his teeth. He bit down so hard that the bones of his jaw screamed.
Fifth layer —— vanished.
Sixth layer —— vanished.
Seventh layer —— cracked‚ then collapsed. Swallowed by blood-like light‚ it returned to dust while fracturing.
The approaching light of destruction bit into the eighth layer. The cracks running from the center of the light ring transferred to Louie's body itself‚ causing the blood vessels throughout his body to run wild.
[ Tactile Protocol: Liquid detected in oral cavity ]
[ Component estimation: Blood ]
It tasted of iron. It was similar to the smell of the rusted water pipes he had once sniffed at the inn's washing area.
"...Not yet...!"
Louie's muddy‚ hoarse cry‚ like a prayer. The eighth layer shattered into pieces with an ear-splitting crash. But it was at that moment. Just before a direct hit‚ upon contact with the ninth shield‚ the torrent rapidly lost density and began to dissipate. The extreme "depletion strategy" to exhaust all of Ragnarok's energy had worked by a paper-thin margin of death.
Beyond the rising smoke like hot mud‚ Kyle entered the recharge motion for the abominable demonic sword to fire the next terminus wave. In that instant‚ his body's movements completely froze for a mere fraction of a second.
[ Detected cooldown bug in attack interval ── ]
[ 《Chance》: 0.0012 seconds ]
The one and only "gap in the formula" that had been simulated a million times in advance and carved out at the cost of his life.
"...Ciel‚ now! Isolation barrier‚ activate!"
『──《Release》. Releasing all computation area for the isolation barrier 』
An instant of stillness. Beyond the air distorted by the heatwave‚ a 'blank' of a fraction of a second appeared in Kyle's motion as he tried to recharge the demonic sword. The blade of computation pushed beyond its limits would not miss that gap (bug).
"Isolation barrier‚ multiple deployment──!"
He thrust out his fingertips. Pale light rings rose in multiple layers as a 'cage' that physically cut out the space to surround Kyle. The light circuits connected rapidly‚ beginning to physically sever the red-black path flowing between Kyle and the demonic sword 《Ragnarok》. A progress bar raced across his retinas at terrifying speed.
[ Target: Ragnarok —— Executing path severance process ]
[ Severance rate: 42% ── 71% ── 92% ── ]
Just eight percent more. A little more and he would reach Leon. He would reach that imperfect best friend who had laughed together covered in soot.
Ignoring the heat that felt like his brain cells were burning out‚ Louie poured all resources into the path-severance computation. However‚ the moment the severance rate reached ninety-two percent‚ the demonic sword emitted a death-throes-like high frequency.
[ Warning: Serious anomaly (contradiction) detected in target's mana waveform ── ]
The blade of 《Ragnarok》‚ which had been murky with scarlet‚ changed into a thick‚ complete jet black. The principle of termination‚ which allowed no contradictions‚ fiercely rejected control by the external system (Ciel) and began to run wild beyond its limits.
The expanding black wave pulverized the isolation barrier from the inside. The air screamed. The aftershock of that pressure even reached the super-wide-area shield covering the entire royal capital‚ opening an irreparable massive fissure at the zenith. If the rampage continued‚ not just the royal capital but the world itself would collapse under its own weight.
At that critical point of destruction‚ the God of Destruction Kyle—no‚ Leon's body shook violently. The absolute will of Ragnarok to 'end the world' and the human will inside him to 'save Louie' that was tearing him apart. His eyes captured the greatest paradox born in the world.
"A‚ aaaaaahhh...!!"
Kyle let out a beast-like wail. The absolute law of Ragnarok that allowed no contradictions. To correct (reset) that contradiction‚ the demonic sword ordered the all-too-cold and sad optimal solution of 'ending the host's body along with it.'
However‚ the one who finally gripped the sword again was Leon.
"...This is fine."
"Go home‚ Louie."
The next instant‚ he plunged the jet-black dyed blade of the demonic sword straight into his own chest.
"Le...on...!"
Louie's throat tried to scream but made no sound. Because it was not suicide driven by malice or despair.
Thick darkness overflowed from the blade stabbed into Kyle's chest. Centered on the wound‚ a jet-black spatial fissure spread rapidly as if the texture of the world itself had torn. A dark abyss connected to another dimension. Kyle's body was slowly sucked into that dark fissure‚ drawn by the principle of termination.
Eyes that had lost light quietly gazed this way. There was no resentment‚ no anger‚ nothing. Only absolute silence remained.
[ Scan Target: Kyle —— LOST confirmed ]
A moment later‚ the spatial fissure closed completely with a bursting sound. Kyle's presence vanished entirely from the royal capital's grid‚ without leaving even a single speck of dust.
Immediately after‚ what assaulted Louie's entire body was an intense sense of exhaustion as if the world had stopped. The maintenance of the super-wide-area shield‚ the ten-layer barrier‚ and the computation of the path severance that exceeded limits—all of that overload came rushing back at once into his brain that had finished its duty.
His vision rapidly dyed gray. Even the red and green warning logs melted and disappeared into the white noise. The blood running down his temple quietly formed a red stain on the chilled cobblestones.
[ System: Fatal overload detected ── ]
[ Executing forced shutdown for brain nerve protection ── ]
[ External connection: Disconnected (Sleep) ── ]
With Ciel's cold warning sound as the last thing‚ the Computation God's consciousness completely sank into the dark abyss and was forcibly cut off.
The jet-black coat collapsed onto the glassified cobblestones of the royal capital. In the burned-out wasteland where only the sounds of exploding flames echoed hollowly‚ no one stood anymore.
The pale light of the monitoring terminals disappeared one by one. The final communication display.
[Connection Lost]
......Serina's shoulders trembled slightly.
"...Louie."
＜ Chapter 10.5 "Ragnarok of Resonance (Sync: 22.1%)" End ＞
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