Chapter 527 – The Fortress and the Womb

000

Mew with Ram on his shoulder and Cleon with Del’s greatsword were walking in the dusty wasteland.

Ram succeeded in healing his wounds his, but he was unconscious as a result of consuming a lot of his mana his, and Mew didn’t seem to be struggling at all even though he was carrying a girl with a similar physique to him.

The difference from when he left was that Cleon was not handcuffed.

Perhaps thanks to Cleon defeating the automata, Mew’s attitude towards him has softened considerably.

Thanks to that, she was able to hear her story her about her other world her in detail from her her.

First of all, it is said that they are “Highlanders” Who are not ordinary humans, and that their bodies were made for temporary purposes and are not their main body.

Their main body is the ‘weapon’ they hold, that is, the ‘sacred sword’, and that core is their heart.

Therefore, even if the body is destroyed, if the core can be retrieved, it can be reproduced at the base to create a resurrected body.

When he heard that even the name attached to it was not his name her as a person, but the number of the sword, Cleon could not help but nod his head her.

Although they are in human form, they are actually swords.

In other words, it was no different from the usual appearances of Caliburn and Galatea.

It was only then that Cleon could understand why they would rather take the core of the holy sword than the corpses of their comrades.

“In that case, the ‘Del’ who was attacked by the automaton earlier…”

“That’s right. If you have the core that Mr. Cleon retrieved, you can regenerate your body again based on the core in ‘Uteri’. Thank you.”

And, he must have realized that Cleon’s true identity was different from theirs, but he didn’t seem to question it deeply.

She seemed to be somewhat strict, but she must have become dull when it comes to benefactors.

But, again, Cleon put his hand on his head as he heard the words that Cleon couldn’t understand pop out.

“Uteri. Highlander. Original. Bunker… It’s just difficult words.”

“It’s a natural word for us.”

Even as Cleon nodded her head in agreement with her words of her, he could n’t stop thinking about how they and Caliburn would become intertwined.

And finally, Cleon and the two of them were able to arrive in front of a huge structure perched at the end of a dust storm in the wilderness.

The light that shone even in the swirling dust that obscured the view was a huge fortress that was close to the royal castle seen in the royal capital El Cerdo.

Inside the dome-shaped machine and steel shell, what kind of facilities might be there, even though it was completely invisible from the outside.

Unusually, something like a spider’s legs grew out in four directions around the dome.

I thought the same thing about whether this huge structure could move.

“…Is this a bunker?”

“Yes. It is a place where we are created and must be protected.”

Nodding her head at Cleon’s question, which was passed with a loud noise crossing her ears, Mew drew her own sword and raised it towards the sky.

Then, the lights that were looking everywhere were focused on Cleon and Mew at once.

At the intense light, Cleon raised his arm her and covered his eyes her, frowning at him.

Then, in the next moment, something like a steel disk rises from under Cleon and Mew’s feet and starts moving, carrying Cleon and Mew.

“This… Is it buried in the dirt so I couldn’t see it?”

“Because it’s so windy, even if it’s just one day, things get buried in the ground. So, you have to do a good job collecting cores.”

“…Right.”

The holy sword and the demonic sword maintain consciousness to some extent even when they are in a nuclear state.

If the core is buried under such dirt, how long will I have to spend in solitude waiting for my consciousness to wear out?

Perhaps the holy swords that had been sealed for a long time had to endure that time.

While I was thinking about that, the steel scaffolding with Cleon and Myu lifted into the sky, and the door on the surface of the dome opened.

Beyond that, it looks like a dry, cold warehouse with dim lights.

Cleon thought that he had seen such a sight somewhere before.

‘Ah. It was definitely like that when I entered that madman’s dwarf fortress.’

It reminds me of the time I entered the fortress I saw in the gap in the other dimension.

At that time, I was surrounded by numerous enemy soldiers, but I just hoped that would not happen this time.

“…If you go inside this bunker, please don’t leave me. If there’s anything you want to know, I’ll help.”

“…Thank you.”

Cleon nodded at Mu’s consideration, and when the footstool moved, the two of them could see the door closing with a heavy ‘thud’ as they moved completely into the fortress.

Then, contrary to the harsh environment outside, clean, disinfected, and bleached air fills Cleon’s lungs.

“… Ha…”

As if it was the same for Mew, he took a deep breath and breathed in the clean air inside the fortress.

And, looking back at Cleon with a slightly improved expression, he was talking.

“…Welcome to our bunker.”

001

Cleon and Mew came in from the outside and arrived at the fortress’ soldiers’ entrance.

Mew explained that it was a place where the Highlanders went out to defeat the Warbeasts and wage war.

“War…”

“Yes. Should I explain the war by any chance?”

As Cleon repeats, tearing out the words of his explanation of her, he asks with a puzzled expression, but Cleon shakes his head.

It was because they had some knowledge about the war they were fighting in.

As this war continues, humans obtain a means to destroy humans, and the result is the result of bringing the golden comet Lesia.

In other words. Cleon was in the middle of a war called Harmagedon, the last war of mankind.

Now, all the nations of the world were fighting wars, operating mobile fortresses to efficiently seize the few remaining resources.

This bunker is also one of them, but it is a relatively rear bunker, and it was the role of the bronze class squad of three people, Dell, Mew, and Ram, to clean up the warbeasts, the enemy soldiers sent in for rear disturbance.

If you say it’s a kind of defense force… It looks good, but the three say they consider themselves expendable.

So do others. The role of the Highlanders guarding the fort in the rear is to gain practical experience and be promoted to a higher rank or-

They die and return to the core, then resurrect and use their lives again as ‘consumables’ to hunt warbeasts or be killed by automata.

It is their role to repeat such things.

“…Is that okay?”

“Is it okay… If you ask me. We’re not human in the first place. The sword wears a human skin and works as a soldier.”

To Cleon’s question, Mew shrugs her shoulders as if it’s not a big deal.

“Is it.”

Cleon nodded his head, feeling that it was their life her, even though he felt somewhat uncertain about Mu’s answer her.

And, after walking through the gloomy passage leading into the city from the dark entrance and passing through the tightly closed iron gate-

Finally, they were able to enter the full-fledged inner area of ​​the ‘bunker’ where Mew and Ram were living.

Then Cleon, who frowned at the sudden brightness he felt at the entrance to the bunker.

What caught Cleon’s eyes was a clear sky and a forest of huge buildings made of stone.

“This…”

Although it was surprising that there were several buildings lined up like the royal castle’s watchtowers.

Even more surprising than that was that there was a sky inside the room, and that the sun and clouds were floating in the sky.

“Here… Is it indoors for now?”

“Huh? Ah. Is it the sky?”

At Cleon’s question, Myu follows his gaze at her, looks up at the sky, and nods.

“That’s right. Artificial sun and artificial sky. Indoors, the sun sets and rises according to the time of day and is mechanically controlled.”

“…Amazing skill.”

When Cleon nodded in genuine admiration, Ram, who had been hanging on Mew’s back in time, opened her eyes gradually with a voice saying “Ugh…” As if she had come to her senses her from the warm sunlight.

“Mu… This is…”

“Ram! You’re awake… Don’t worry. I’m back in the bunker. You’d better go to the barracks and rest.”

Ram nodded slowly, then looked at Cleon, who was walking side by side with Mew, then turned towards him and bowed his head.

“Thank you…Thank you. Thanks to you, Del and Mew were able to be safe…”

“It was a fight for me to survive. So, you focus on recovery.”

“You’re kind, you’re…”

As Ram says so, he loses his mind once again and falls asleep.

Seeing Ram like that, Cleon sighed a little, and he didn’t stop walking, sending out his magic power her to find the place where Caliburn was.

‘…The sign is close by. But it’s felt on such a wide scale… What happened? As if this entire city is Caliburn.’

If Cleon thinks so – he feels a gaze from somewhere and turns his head in that direction.

There, I saw a passer-by who was looking at Cleon and laughing.

The outfit wasn’t that familiar, but the appearance wasn’t that different compared to the ‘humans’ Cleon knew.

Unlike Mewna and Ram, it is also noticeable that the hair color is not blonde, but…

Perhaps, they are not Highlanders, but ordinary human beings like themselves, in other words, originals.

As Cleon remembered, those who used the holy sword were actually slaves for combat.

In other words, those who treat the Highlanders as slaves, while safely hiding themselves in these places.

That was exactly what the humans in this world looked like.

“…”

When they meet Cleon’s eyes, the two look into each other’s eyes, then turn their heads and talk to each other again.

“…Perhaps it’s because Cleon-san’s outfit is weird. These days, there’s no ‘original’ wearing that kind of outfit. Everyone, it’s just the ‘Highlanders’ who go to war.”

Cleon looks down at his clothes her at her words her.

Come to think of it, he should have been wearing casual clothes when he transferred the consciousness from the room to the sword, but at some point he changed into an adventurer’s armor.

“…And if it’s that old-fashioned, especially.”

“Does it feel that way?”

“Yes. It’s great.”

When Cleon shrugged her shoulders at Mew’s sharp words, Mew let out a sigh, and then she saw a machine that looked like her can that passed in front of her, and she tapped it on the back of her.

She stopped the tin can and looked back at ‘Mu’ who had called her.

A hemispherical cap is put on the top of the can’s head, so it looks like cat ears with two triangular decorations hanging on top of it, along with lights that make it look like it makes an expression.

“Yes. How can I help you?”

The tone of speech on such a subject is properly polite.

“Send this child to the medical wing of the barracks. I have something else to do.”

“Is this a convoy? I understand.”

Tin Can replied, and the front part of her body her squeaked open and, in it, her poles and fabric protruded and became a cot.

“Ouch…”

Cleon winced and took a step back, as if the sight was quite shocking, but Myu put her Ram on the bed as if she was used to it.

It was a bed that seemed quite unstable to be supported by one side, but Ram did not fall to the ground with some kind of technology.

“I will escort you to the barracks.”

And, after saying that, the tin can moved away as if it were slippery and slippery like before.

“Is it okay? Let her go alone.”

“That can will take care of it. I have a place to go with Mr. Cleon.”

“…Where else to go?”

When Cleon tilts her head, as if to disapprove of Mew’s words, she nods her head in reverse and raises her finger.

And- it pointed to a place that is the center of the city, a building that is one step taller and taller than the buildings built around it, like a giant pillar.

“Did I mention it earlier? The core of a sword that has become incapacitated can regenerate its body in Uteri. I’m going there to regenerate the Dell Cleon-san is carrying on his back.”

“Ah, ah… I see. Then that huge building is the place called Uteri.”

When Cleon answered as if he understood her words, Myu grabbed Cleon’s wrist her as if to hurry.

“That’s right. The later you are, the less chance your body will be 100% restored in the core, so hurry up.”

And, as it were, it was to drag him by force and proceed through the city.

002

And when they arrived, Cleon couldn’t hide his surprised expression her once again.

As soon as you enter the building, which you thought was a huge pillar, what you see is a huge water tank.

Inside the water tank, which was filled with a liquid close to green, high in the sky, the bodies of several boys and girls were floating and connected to machines with various wires.

Speaking of their characteristics, all of them are ‘blonde bystanders’.

Although he was in the water with his eyes closed, his chest was going up and down as if there was no problem with his breathing.

Fortunately, it should be said that the chest and waist were covered with black clothes.

“This is Uteri.”

“That’s right. Us, Highlander’s ‘production factory’. It’s a place called the womb of the bunker.”

“Uterus… I see. That’s what you said.”

Cleon nods at her and looks around her, accepting her analogy.

Around them, Originals in white coats were operating machines while looking at something like a slate in their hands.

“Are they the administrators of the facility?”

“Well. This facility is the most important place in this bunker- we exist to protect it.”

Mew said so, and she led Cleon once more to the largest machine with a groove at the base of the tank.

“Here, Dell’s core.”

Following her instructions, I pulled out the greatsword that was strapped to her back her and pulled out the same-colored orb from her handle her.

“…”

Then, Cleon looked at the scene for a while, then inserted Dell’s core into the device she Mu pointed out, and the device started to glow and activate.

[Check the insertion of the core. Target Entity Name, Number- Delta 11. Core Damage Rate… 27%. There is a possibility of problems with the regeneration of the body and personality. Initialization is recommended.]

At the sound of her voice her emanating from her machine her, when Cleon looks at Mew, Mew shuts her mouth for a moment, then she presses her button in front of him.

“Even if it’s damaged, it’s better than resetting.”

“…Is it.”

If she said so, then it must be so. When I thought so, the tank began to vibrate, and I could see a shiny object coming down from the top of the tank.

Naturally, when she raises her head to see it, what comes into Cleon’s eyes is-

“…!”

A silvery white blade and a beautiful golden handle.

It was a slightly different shape from what she knew, but it was a well-balanced longsword.

And I felt the faint divine magic.

“…Carly, Byrne.”

As Cleon muttered, a wire extending from the machine connected to the water tank touched Caliburn’s blade.

[Enter data from Delta 11, Extract… Flesh, Regeneration-]

[Cleon]

[…Regenerate.]

Cleon quietly listens to the voice coming from the machine, but when he suddenly hears a voice called ‘Cleon’that jumps into his ear her, he turns into a surprised face.

Mew looked at Cleon with a strange expression.

“…What’s wrong, Mr. Cleon?”

“…Didn’t you hear? Just now. My name-“

“…?”

“…No, nothing.”

Cleon shakes his head and watches Del’s body begin to regenerate.

When the end of the line that separates from Caliburn begins to bubble and bubble, from there you witness an amazing sight.

When organs, bones, muscles, blood vessels, and nerves begin to form as if they were made of liquid.

As it is, it slowly begins to take on a human form.

As it develops the skin and begins to progress to the human genital area, the ingrown hair is noticeable.

“…Yes?”

However, Dell’s hair her, which should have stopped at the top of her shoulders her, grew more, past her shoulders and down to her waist her.

Not only that, but the chest is slightly swollen, and even the organs that should be in the groin are not created, and they stop being created.

“Music.”

“I told you earlier, it would be incomplete. Gender information was missing, so it must have been reset to a female type entity. …We don’t have ‘fertility’ anyway, so either way doesn’t matter.”

Mew says as if she can’t help it, swallowing her saliva and watching her friend’s body regenerate.

… And, seeing Del’s body completely dismembered her, Cleon had no choice but to shut her mouth once again.

That appearance is what she knows, ‘a mysterious girl with blonde hair’. It was because she bore a striking resemblance to Caliburn’s human form.

And as she slowly opened her eyes, the cloth that seemed to cover her chest and groin her was wrapped around her, and when she met Cleon’s eyes her-

“…”

She nods her head as she smiles at Cleon.

That mischievous smile was also the same as Caliburn’s, so Cleon’s head her couldn’t help but be confused.

The regenerated Dell swims inside the tank as it is, and she comes down to the bottom and passes through the door that allows her to come out of the tank and appears in front of Cleon and Mew.

“Del. How are you? Are you okay? Do you remember me?”

“Yeah. Mew, don’t worry. Other than the physical gender change, it hasn’t changed that much.”

Del waved her hand as she said that, and Mew let out a sigh of relief. Then she turned her body toward her exit her.

“It’s good. Ram went to the barracks, so let’s go there and talk. Cleon-san, is that okay too?”

“Okay.”

As Cleon tried to follow Mew, she felt a tug on Cleon’s sleeve her.

“…”

She turns her head in that direction and sees Del, who is smiling the same as before – no.

‘Caliburn’ was standing there.

“…Caliburn?”

When Cleon speaks quietly, she nods her head.

“…I’ll explain it a little later. For now, let’s move accordingly.”

“…Okay.”

Saying so, Caliburn pretends to be Del and follows Mew.

Cleon turned her body for a moment and looked at the ‘Holy Sword Caliburn’ floating in the water tank-

“Mr. Cleon!”

She was leaving the facility following Myu who called her.