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| Chapter 105 | Book 7 • Chapter 106 | Chapter 107 |
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| *Ortho slowly wakes up* |
| Huh? Where am I? |
| *Ortho finds himself as a hologram. His parents stand before him* |
 Styx Chief Engineer |
Ah, you're awake, Or. |
 |
Mom? Dad? Am I..? |
Styx Chief Engineer |
The Cerberus Gear was totaled, minus the core region we shielded with special armor plating. And I'm sorry to say CB-RS01 and 02 ceased functioning inside the arcane realm. |
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Oh... I wish they could've made it back with me. |
Styx Chief Engineer |
They were good boys who did a good job. Once that barrier's down, we can retrieve their components. I'll fix 'em up again, good as new. |
|
I'm sorry. I know you put a lot of work into making them for me... |
Styx Chief Engineer |
Don't be silly! What matters most is that you made it out safely. Welcome home, Or. |
 Styx Director |
Welcome home, Ortho. I'm glad you made it back. |
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...Thanks. I'm glad to be back. |
| *Ortho, the Director and the Chief Engineer share an embrace* |
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Oh! What about the analysis anchors?! |
Styx Director |
They were all retrieved. You and the dogs got the job done. Styx's data processing team is working round-the-clock on unpacking everything. Malleus's arcane realm is made up of multiple layers of complex spell formulas. |
Styx Director |
It reminds me of the ancient sorcery cast on Subject F — ah, I mean Grim. But we've managed to unravel the spells quickly, thanks in no small part to help from Briar Valley. |
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Already?! Wow, that's great! |
Styx Director |
No, it's terrible. |
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What? But why? Don't you understand how Malleus Draconia's realm is structured now? |
Styx Director |
Yes. Completely. And according to our findings, unless Malleus Draconia dispels the magic himself, or the caster is eliminated... ...dismantling his spell from the outside is 99.8% likely to be impossible. |
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Gosh... |
Styx Chief Engineer |
Inside of that domain, the very laws of reality bend to Malleus's will. Even if we managed to breach the barrier with full-power cannon fire, it'd be neutralized instantly once inside. Maybe if we sent in around 100,000 Cerberus Gears at once, we'd have a shot at winning... |
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I think... that would be more likely to weaken Malleus from the sheer surprise than by actually overpowering him. |
Styx Chief Engineer |
See? Great idea, right? But in the time it would take me to assemble 100,000 autonomous Cerberus Gears... ...calculations indicate that Malleus's realm would have expanded to cover the whole world. |
Styx Director |
There are other concerns as well. Analysis has shown us what's going on with the people sleeping on Sage's Island. Mentally speaking, they're captives of Malleus's spell. They're all dreaming. |
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Dreaming? Oh, the hallucinations humans experience during REM sleep? |
Styx Chief Engineer |
Correct. The spell affects their minds, making them perceive virtual reality as actual reality. Similar to how the Lachesis System operates. If we destroy the arcane realm by force, it's possibly that doing so could also destroy the minds of the people in it. |
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I get it. So the realm's acting like one giant server. Which means... We have to somehow get Malleus to see reason, dispel his territory, and free his captives of his own volition. |
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...And it's that or nothing. |
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| Chapter 105 | Book 7 • Chapter 106 | Chapter 107 |
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