Chapter 91
Gideon led the way.
Above his head flew a fist-sized blue bird that landed gently. A similarly bluish bird flew over and perched above Lilieta, a few steps behind him.
Isaiah, who had sent off the summoned creatures, leaned against a tree a little distance away from the greenhouse.
If the enhanced-type oath takers specialize in enhancing the physical abilities of Od, and the processed-type oath takers specialize in shaping Od into other substances or forms, then the transfer-type oath takers specialize in transferring their Od into other creatures or objects.
The representative transfer-type oath takers are healers, called priests in this era. They transfer their Od to others so that it becomes their flesh and blood.
Besides that, there are unique specialists like pilots who embed Od into specific objects to ride them, or long-distance communicators who transfer Od over vast distances.
Isaiah Pascal was a rather peculiar case even among transfer-type oath takers.
Instead of transferring Od to other creatures or objects, his skill was Od Summoning — a technique that transfers Od to imaginary things that do not exist in reality, concretizing them from mere doodles drawn from imagination.
In the Ashes Era, he was an expert in such Od Summoning, and his original identity, Isaiah Cotvan, was the founder of this technique.
Isaiah closed his eyes, coordinating the flow of Od connected to his summoned creatures.
From now on, the blue birds drawn from his doodles would serve as the eyes for Gideon and Rita entering the greenhouse.
Transferring the view of summoned creatures to himself or others was his unique skill, and why he was assigned as the scout for the Beacon squad.
“Avian vision transfer.”
The views from the two bluebirds appeared clearly within his closed eyes. He transferred that view to both Gideon and Rita, allowing them to fight without making eye contact with the doppelganger.
Lilieta closed her eyes and quickly took in the darkened scene that emerged.
Inside the greenhouse was covered with grotesquely overgrown tropical plants, resembling the insides of a green monster. Deep inside the tangled tree trunks was a space covered in sticky mucus like spider webs — the nest formed by the doppelganger.
The doppelganger’s main body was a blob of mucus crouched like a small hill. A jelly-like body squirmed with a giant single eye about the size of a human head, and from its gaping mouth flowed what looked like jelly-like clones vomiting out.
From the thick vines hanging from the nest’s ceiling dangled translucent cocoons made of mucus, inside which captured people could be seen.
“Three special agents, male and female clerks, the gatekeeper… Linzy! Good, they’re all here. Looks like they weren’t mixed into the clones.”
Rita confirmed their presence with relief, swallowing her bitter feelings. Since she saw no one else besides them, it seemed the carriage driver had already been digested.
She stopped at the greenhouse entrance, hid behind a thick tree trunk, and raised Silver Grace. The barrel shimmered with a golden hue.
Gideon, having confirmed Rita’s concealment, closed his eyes and approached the nest.
The moment his foot touched the mucus-covered ground, the doppelganger — which had only been vomiting jelly blobs while crouching — rolled its huge eyeball sharply to glare at him.
A strange light burst forth from that eyeball, but it was useless against Gideon with closed eyes, and the summoned creature above his head was no real being, so it meant nothing.
A low growl sounded, expressing displeasure, and the doppelganger closed its eye. At the same time, the jelly blobs writhing around the nest swelled and transformed into the captured people.
Linzy, the clerks, special agents, and gatekeepers. Facing dozens of clones brandishing their weapons, Gideon raised his sword wrapped in black heat haze.
Rita didn’t worry about him at all.
“They’re all clones, so this shouldn’t be difficult.”
Every time the black energy drew a trajectory, multiple clones were chopped into pieces and smashed about. She left Gideon alone and focused on her mission.
“I have to drop those cocoons while the doppelganger is distracted by Gideon. Hmm, it’s hard to hit the points where the cocoons hang from below…”
What she needed now was Ricochet Shot — bouncing bullets off obstacles to hit a target from a blind spot.
She checked the greenhouse’s steel frames and floor, partially visible through the vines, through the summoned creature’s vision and calculated the angle. Suddenly, she frowned.
“There are too many vines. Not many places to ricochet the bullets. The angle’s tricky. I can’t see the inside well… Should I ask Senior Isa to scout with his summons?”
[Suggestion: User, are you calculating ballistics? Please use this artificial spirit’s ballistics assistance function.]
“Oh right, you had that function too. How do I use it?”
As Rita thought this, Silver Grace drew in Od, and multicolored butterflies took flight — not one, but many.
The small butterflies scattered in all directions, and soon after, golden lines emanated from Silver Grace, revealing a 3D blueprint of the greenhouse’s interior structure floating in midair. Highlighted were points good for bullet ricochets, and dotted lines showed expected reflection angles depending on incidence.
Seeing this with the bird’s view above her head, Rita couldn’t help but gape.
“This is insane. What is this?”
[Pride: The creator expects the user will surely be pleased with this artificial spirit. How do you find it?]
“I really love it. You’re a genius, Grace. The greatest artificial spirit.”
[Satisfaction: I am very pleased to meet a user who recognizes the true value of this artificial spirit.]
[Suggestion: Shall I proceed with ballistics calculation? It will take about 3 minutes.]
“Huh? You’ve already fed me this much. What else do I need?”
Rita quickly scanned the golden 3D blueprint floating right before her and immediately moved the barrel.
“This is enough.”
She fired specially processed silent bullets, suppressing firing noise to a minimum. A small flame flickered at the muzzle, followed by a soft ‘pshh’ like air escaping.
The first bullet hit the floor between vines three steps ahead, bounced, struck a steel beam slightly exposed on the greenhouse ceiling, bounced again, and pierced the point where the cocoons hung from the vines.
The second and third bullets followed, hitting steel beams among the vines, legs of work tables, and sides of metal shelves, ricocheting to precisely pierce the points where the cocoons were suspended.
Not a single shot missed. The sticky cocoons plopped down one after another.
Because the people inside were surrounded by plant stems and spiderweb-like mucus inside jelly-like cocoons, falling this way posed little risk of serious injury.
[Shock: User, is there a computer implanted in your brain? How can you calculate this so fast?]
“I don’t calculate everything. I do the rough math and shoot the rest by instinct.”
[Astonishment: Instinct? Really? That’s harder to believe than if you said you had a computer in your brain.]
“Thanks for the compliment.”
Rita chuckled at Grace’s fussing and kept her body hidden while watching the people who had fallen out. Golden light shimmered from her hand as bullets loaded into the cylinder.
Those who stumbled out of the cocoons looked around with dull eyes. The doppelganger noticed the released human specimens and snapped its eyes open, rolling its giant eyeball sharply.
Then the staggering humans immediately took battle stances. At the same time, currents like electricity flowed through the air, revealing transparent tentacles extending from the doppelganger’s main body to the backs of the people’s necks.
“Just as I thought.”
Previously, they had rescued people only for the doppelganger-controlled specimens’ hands to move on their own and stab holes in their bellies.
She had experience and wasn’t about to fall for that again. Staying hidden, she fired her revolver repeatedly. Bang, bang — the gunshots sounded in quick succession as all the invisible tentacles linking the doppelganger and the people were severed and burst.
A terrifying scream!
The doppelganger emitted countless translucent tentacles like sea urchin spines from its whole body.
Blocking those tentacles trying to recapture the clones was Gideon’s task, who stood before the main body cutting down the clones.
He dropped his sword and stretched out one hand. Black heat haze exploded outward from him, forming a curtain.
“Selective Wall.”
Gideon’s unique skill using domain control.
He applied his selective ability to the vertically deployed domain to block enemy attacks while allowing ally attacks through, creating a one-sided defensive barrier.
The transparent tentacles shot like thorns were caught and stopped by the black misty wall, unable to advance further.
