Chapter 450

Mind Controlling Devices: Angel Ring VS Fairy Ring (Part 2)

“… What!? No. 7 has been hacked!?”

That’s the voice of a completely shocked person rather than a lonely one.

Just when they were about to reach the castle walls of Galahad Fortress, Dorothy’s attention is turned to a data screen turning red, showing a ‘Red Alert’ message.

Among all of the error levels there are, the ‘Red Alert’ indicates the highest level of danger.

By ‘hacked’, she means that someone has accessed the inner engine of the ancient golems without the proper authorization.

“It’s not a standalone, but it can only be accessed from there… Ah, no, I see! They’re attacking the pilot directly!”

This “hacker” jumped into the ancient golem –formally named ‘Taurus’– while it was in motion, opened the almost unlocked hatch, reached the seat test subject 672’s was united to and got to the telepathic magic item attached to his head.

Given this sudden and unforeseen change of events caused by this ‘hacker’, there’s only one practical way to proceed.

Dorothy was completely confident that the ‘White Sacrament’ led by Judas is the most advanced research on ancient relics there is, and the ‘magical chip’ is part of it. At least, she hasn’t heard any news regarding any improvement in the clarification of advanced ancient magic in the Pandora continent.

If asked to speak frankly, she’d say that she despises these meddlers as if they were demons.

However, her confidence in her absolute advantage crumbles down in an instant.

“I… impossible… b-but… you…!”

Her analysis of the hacking advances at an incredibly high speed. The evil hand of telepathy bridges between the fundamental operation of the ‘power loader’ installed onto the pilot’s brain and the Taurus’ operating system it is connected to.

She doesn’t know how this hacker was able to detect that, but the ‘magical chip’ can tell her exactly what the intruder is doing. Though it cannot do much more than just reporting, as the golem doesn’t have any kind of automatic defense software installed.

With the Pandora continent’s current magical technology, no one was even supposed to be able to access ancient relics such as the ‘magical chip’ or the Taurus to begin with. There was no need to implement an internal defensive system, nor there was any time to do so.

In short, this means that this hacker can freely tamper with the pilot’s brain and the golems cockpit, and no one can prevent them from doing so.

“…I’ll regain control of the Taurus!”

The only way she can stop them is by taking the matter into her own hands.

In this battleground against the demons, she had never imagined that she would be facing them in an information war as well. Not even demons should be able to interfere with a brain dominated by the ‘Angel Ring’, which was created by the White Sacrament. That’s how precise and complex of a black box the human mind really is.

However, she has to recognize that this enemy is equal to them.

“It’s all right, it’s all right… I may be just a plain-looking woman who has no magical power of her own, but I can’t afford to lose!”

She doesn’t look as if she was getting worked up. She’s always calm and collected, and yet negative and even mean to herself, whenever she whispers to herself.

Dorothy has almost no fighting spirit or sense of competition… or, more specifically, she almost never gets angry. That’s because she tends to give everything up from the very beginning.

She’s always been like that, be it for having a feminine charm or any magical talent at all. And her frail body certainly has no aptitude for martial arts.

Her single and unmistakable talent is her own professional studies of ancient magic. But it’s a good thing since that means that there’s no one who can compete with her in that field.

Even the skilled and high-regarded professors at the Elysion Magic Academy would steal her theories. Dorothy was the one to build the central engine of the magic battleship ‘Gargantua’, which was used as the first step of the invasion of Pandora. She was seventeen at the time.

She doesn’t get angry even if the fruits of her research are stolen. All she feels is despair and emptiness. To her understanding, that’s just the way the world works, and people are just things that are tricked and deceived.

However, she is now able to live an above-average, happy, and fulfilling life after being found by Bishop Judas. Only he appreciates her talent and makes her feel valid. More than that, he makes her feel necessary.

She cannot see Bishop Judas as a rival. Even a genius like Dorothy can see an overwhelming difference between the two like she has never seen before. She would not be a match for him even if it took her a lifetime. To her, Bishop Judas is an absolute being, a great leader worthy of respect, worship, and from whom she should continue to learn.

But now, she faces a different opponent, a hacker that has invaded golem No. 7, ‘Taurus’.

That person has enough talent to stand above the countless incompetents who do not understand the theory behind ancient magic. Though above overwhelming, they’re not absolute. They’re on par with her. A rival worthy enough has appeared.

That’s why she cannot get all fired up. For the first time in her life, she began to feel a fighting spirit well up deep inside her chest, completely devoted to counter the intruder’s attack.

“Console change to hexagon type! Show me Model No. 7’s condition on the main monitor! Administer ‘Sheer Heart’ and ‘Blood Plus’ on subject No. 672! We’re going to hit the gas — but don’t die on me yet, 672! Not until I have logged this hacker out!”