Information War (1)
Uwoooong—
The electronic equipment crammed in the data center emitted loud noises and hot heat.
Special items modified with magic engineering to be usable like magical equipment on Earth.
‘Crazy, what the…!’
But even though these rare devices, hard to obtain, were operating close to their limits, there were no signs of the situation improving.
Hesperon, who lay in a capsule wrapped in a titan suit with dozens of tangled wires, frowned.
‘How the hell can it keep up with this processing speed?’
The “Machina: Callicas” leading this electronic war was no ordinary AI.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that it had evolved to a completely different dimension compared to when it was simply an AI embedded in a prosthetic.
An electronic spirit that had grown in tandem with him through the “Chain of Pact,” evolving in real-time.
So far, this partner had never let him down.
Especially when fueled by the energy of a titan-class starship.
But now…
[Firewall breach failed. Counterattack incoming from the opposing side.]
[Defense successful. Cumulative loss rate has exceeded 10%. Initiating emergency recovery.]
[Ambush through bypass data failed due to the opponent’s trap.]
There were no positive messages unlike usual.
The only small relief was that they weren’t losing ground too much, but at the moment, that didn’t provide much comfort.
As time passed, the one solidifying their defense was clearly the one on the other side.
‘There’s no backing out now. I have to break through somehow.’
If he forcibly cut the signal now, the opponent would immediately trace back the remaining clues and pinpoint his location.
He absolutely needed to avoid exposing his exact position.
Just one bomb would turn this data center into dust, just like the one incident he faced in Southeast Asia.
He mobilized the network that he had been quietly eroding all this time to actively counterattack.
But the opponent was doing the same.
Actually, engaging in a contest of strength meant that the disadvantage fell on him even more.
‘Ugh, the resources I can mobilize are on an entirely different level. Just how long have they been preparing for this…?’
The only organization capable of plotting something this big came to mind.
‘Buncheon Society.’
At that moment, just as that thought crossed his mind…
-Hello~?
Among the fiercely oscillating data, a voice file arrived and played automatically.
Despite just one line spoken in a voice he somewhat recognized, it was delivered with a strangely enthusiastic tone.
He didn’t need to dig deep to remember who it was.
‘So he’s still alive. Has he started moving again?’
Heinz II, one of the top executives of the Buncheon Society that he once handled in Romania, the Doctor.
He had reached out from beyond the electronic world.
-Oh dear, this is quite astonishing! I hadn’t imagined you could go this far! I’m truly impressed!
A sound of clapping mixed with the flippant tone echoed through.
It only served to infuriate Hesperon even more, as he was on the verge of death.
‘While I’m struggling, it seems he’s still got plenty of leeway.’
Hesperon grimaced.
With the performance of “Machina: Callicas” enhanced, there was a minor side effect: as he became one with it, the more he used his powers, the greater the burden came back to him.
He took a small sigh, trying to ignore the throbbing headache.
‘If he shows off too much, that would be good for me.’
He refrained from sending a reply.
A small piece of information slipping out could tighten his noose.
At the same time, he could possibly glean critical information from the other party’s blabbering, so he just silently listened.
-Hmm? Oh! Could it be… are you from Callicas? You’ve visited a wonderful world indeed! I really like that work of yours. It’s a pity that there aren’t many returnees from there!
That statement sent chills down his spine.
They weren’t directly facing each other.
They were merely battling through hacking, firing back and forth in cyberspace.
‘But to discern the tech base here just from that?’
Compared to him who had only borrowed the powers of the Machina, the level of insight was clearly different.
So, the name of the top executive was certainly not without merit.
-Yahoo~! There are so many things I want to discuss but I don’t have time! Guess we’ll have to meet and take it slow. Wuhahaha!
That wasn’t just bluster.
The moment that voice message ended, the pattern of the ongoing offensives changed completely.
‘Wait, this is…!’
[Canceling attack attempts. Transferring all resources to defense.]
[Defense failed. Lost share of some networks. Loss rate has exceeded 30%.]
[Dangerous ambush leading to vulnerability detected through bypass. Selecting lower priority data to minimize damage.]
Warning messages far beyond any before flashed chaotically.
It wasn’t that the opponent’s processing speed had suddenly increased or that there was some special attempt.
Only one thing had changed.
‘…All my attempts are being countered. Have they already discerned all of my patterns?’
Electronic warfare was a battle where you had to stab the opponent’s weaknesses among nearly infinite electrical signals to win.
But if every action he took was met with a counter, it was only natural that he wouldn’t be a match.
“Habith! Current situation report!”
[Network share is rapidly decreasing, loss rate has exceeded 40%. Randomly selecting patterns to buy some time, but if this trend continues, all routes will be cut off in 5 minutes 51 seconds.]
“…What about countermeasures? We can’t just sit here and take it, right?”
[Currently reinforcing vulnerabilities learned from the opponent’s attack, applying real-time update patches. Anti-programs for similar methods can be applied based on subsequent analysis of causes.]
That was somewhat fortunate.
It meant that if they could just get through this time, they wouldn’t face the same method again.
However, that ultimately meant there was nothing that could be done right now.
He absolutely couldn’t let this stand.
He couldn’t just sit back and let them thrive, especially since Heinrich, who had entered the Pantheon, needed this information to act properly.
While struggling to find a way amidst his thoughts, time slipped away cruelly.
But a method wouldn’t just appear out of thin air.
With the opponent somewhere beyond the network, there wasn’t much he could do aside from traditional methods.
‘Unless maybe a blackout suddenly occurred at his base. No, there must be some emergency generators, so that wouldn’t help. What if something exploded and wiped everything out…?’
All he could do was stew in meaningless curses.
Of course, saying such things wouldn’t actually make them happen…
‘Wait a minute. A curse?’
Then, suddenly, a spark flicked in his mind.
Curses.
Wishing and hoping for disasters or misfortunes to befall others.
‘Well, I have that, don’t I? It’s the awful curse born from the Demon King’s downfall.’
Taking a deep breath, Hesperon looked at his right arm.
In truth, curses weren’t something that could be used recklessly.
He had the “Curse Devourer” and other traits to keep himself safe, but they were tricky to handle, and if mishandled, they could backfire onto him, making it a double-edged sword.
Especially since if he didn’t clearly specify a target, the chances of failure were incredibly high.
If the target was nearby, maybe, but when he didn’t even know who the opponent was from this distance, he needed a medium like hair, belongings, or even something like a date of birth.
‘A method to clearly specify a target.’
Hesperon’s mechanical eye recognized the adversary beyond the electronic realm.
Even if they hadn’t faced each other directly, that target was undoubtedly out there.
‘Under normal circumstances, that would be a ludicrous idea. But…’
The mechanical eye of his right side and the curse on his right arm were both intertwined through his “Chain of Pact.”
So there should be no reason they couldn’t work together.
‘The internet, and the curse. There’s a perfect fit for this. ’
There was no more time to hesitate.
He stretched out his right arm sideways immediately.
Gikig—
The titan part of his right arm disassembled and swiftly vanished into thin air.
Beneath it, white bandages densely engraved with black characters emerged.
And…
“I never knew I’d use it like this. But finally, the first test run.”
The metallic clumping attached to his wrist, elbow, and shoulder reflected light, revealing a chilling metallic sheen.
It was a new sealing device created by the teamwork of multiple avatars for definitive sealing.
Clank!
Upon meeting his gaze, the joints flexed, and the seals opened simultaneously.
As the bandages were also unrolled dramatically, something black and huge started to crawl out of his right arm.
Saaah—
The temperature inside, which had just felt burning hot, plummeted rapidly.
It was as if the very concept of ‘heat’ had been stripped away; it now felt rather chilly.
‘Though I didn’t accumulate it for long… The inherent strength is so powerful that it shouldn’t matter.’
Accumulation and emission.
It was the ability of the newly crafted sealing device.
While worn, it would nearly perfectly block the internal curse, and the continuously suppressed curse would pile up endlessly until its toxic power overlapped.
And, as it was strongly restrained, it was designed to be emitted much more powerfully once released, which was the essence of this sealing device.
“Well then.”
With a right hand swirling with black energy, Hesperon took a deep breath.
And, filled with malice, he wished.
Right after that.
Fzzzt—!
A stream of curse seeped into the electronic realm from his grasp.
*
Ziiing—
“Oh? Is this finally a reply?”
Doctor, with his arms connected to the machine, opened his eyes wide with interest.
The surface of his arm, cracked into pieces revealing the metal inside, was not human.
It had been completely revamped while altering his body.
As he outputted the received data onto his eyes, he smirked.
It was, as expected, not a normal file.
“A virus? Oh dear, using such a shallow trick! Even if you’re cornered, that’s no excuse. Quite disappointing!”
“Deus Ex Machina.”
To someone like him, who was akin to the god of machinery, such petty tricks wouldn’t work.
He immediately activated the security program to wipe out the virus and opened the message.
A virus was still a virus, and he was curious what this interesting friend who had entertained him after a long time was trying to say.
“Hmm? What’s this?”
There was nothing significant in the content.
…No, really, it was utterly meaningless.
‘This letter starts from England…’ it began with a meaningless sentence, ending with a photo of a black youth pulling out a card from a deck while smirking deviously.
At the moment Doctor blinked in disbelief, the variable had already begun.
Pzzzt—
Sparks flew from the arm connected to the machine.
“Wait? What’s this!”
One side sent, and the other side received.
With that, the connection between the two was established.
The method of transmission had taken the form of a virus and spam mail, but it was merely a remnant of minimal consciousness.
Thus, the curse was triggered.
Beep—! Beep beep beep!
Ding ding ding ding!
Wiiing—!
The cacophony of alarms rang out loudly.
All the readings across the machines began to fluctuate abnormally.
“Ugh, a curse? You sent a curse through the network?”
With knowledge spanning not just engineering but also supernatural science, it wasn’t difficult for him to grasp the underlying causes, but it was far too late to respond now.
The level of the curse was beyond the ordinary.
As the originator of a complex ritual, Doctor’s workshop was certainly not an average place; having breached all defenses like a fortified castle, it now reached him directly without exception.
“…Puhuh.”
Pzzzt!
Boom—!
The loud siren blended with explosive sounds echoed.
“…Ugh, Khyahaha—! Quite! I didn’t think this method of application was even possible! Truly fascinating, very amusing!”
Yet, in the midst of chaos, Doctor simply chuckled.
The exhilaration of encountering new knowledge he hadn’t anticipated overshadowed any feelings of frustration.
Thud!
As he continued to chuckle, he collapsed headfirst from where he stood.
With smoke rising from his body accompanied by a burning smell, he struggled to bring his hand to his temple, staring at something he pulled from there while chuckling softly.
“…Heh, I took a hit, didn’t I? Good thing I didn’t finish it right away. Almost missed something like this.”
The complex magical engineering circuits, blackening and emitting smoke, were ultimately consumed, rendered irretrievably into ashes.
“Still….”
Woosh—
And the flames that had erupted around the workshop raged fiercely, engulfing everything, marking the end of his consciousness as it plunged into darkness.
*
Sending a curse through the electronic realm was no simple feat.
Hesperon exerted every effort through “Chain of Pact” and “Machina: Callicas” to control it optimally.
To ensure that the curse hit the target without veering off into randomness.
As he became completely absorbed in that, a sudden message jolted him out of focus.
《The entity has achieved the conditions for growth. Acquiring special skill “Deus Ex Machina.”》
“…Huh?”
He forgot about his concentration and stared at the phrase before him.
That name seemed strangely cool for some reason.
