Osian and Seren gazed at Cromwell, who had borrowed the body of a modified human. That wasn't the real one. The real Cromwell was hiding somewhere, watching them. Osian spoke.
"Unexpected. I didn't think you'd appear first and start talking."
[You kept pacing around at the entrance without coming in, so I got frustrated. Otherwise, I thought you might have gotten scared.]
Osian sneered coldly.
"Too obvious a provocation. I was going to go in even without you saying that."
[That's a relief. I was eager to show you my masterpiece.]
Seren stepped forward.
"Cromwell. Do you remember who I am?"
[How could I not know? Seren Gracia. That's the name you're using now. But I'd like to call you differently. Isn't that right? Test subject, Serendipity.]
Especially in the scientific field, it was common for academic achievements to emerge from completely unexpected places, aside from discoveries made intentionally while aiming for something.
Cromwell had probably named Seren that way because he hoped for such results.
Seren's expression turned cold at Cromwell's words, who still remembered her.
[Seren. I sent people to capture you, but they were thwarted every time. Because of that fixer’s office that became your hideout. Coincidentally, the man I have my eye on is also affiliated with that place. It wouldn't be strange to call it a bitter connection.]
"Cromwell. Your inhumane experiments end now. Because we're going to stop them."
At those words, Cromwell laughed lowly.
[There were many who said they'd stop me. Bringing up things like human rights, morality, and ethics. The Tirna City government did the same. But what was the result? I'm still continuing my experiments in a place like this. Was it because those who tried to stop me lacked will? Not at all.]
"......"
[It's because there are more people who want something from me than those who want to stop me. Do you think a banished scientist could maintain a secret laboratory in a place like this? What's the source of that funding? Do you think the city doesn't know about this?]
"What do you mean......"
[Tirna knows many things. Of course it does. Because a being who knows everything resides in this city. They know but turn a blind eye.]
At those words, Osian's eyebrows twitched. But Cromwell didn't seem inclined to explain who that was.
[So you want to stop me? Then prove it. Show me that you're different from all those small fry who were all talk. I'm always on the side of those who show value.]
"For a mad scientist, you speak quite romantically. I thought you'd be full of madness."
At Osian's observation, Cromwell, borrowing the modified human's body, laughed.
[Romance, you say. Madness and romance are connected in nature. People don't understand us. They reject what they don't know, degrading it with negative labels. Romance? That's just madness that's a bit softer.]
Osian didn't bother to deny that. Without some madness, he wouldn't have made it this far either.
[The talk has gone on long. The door is always open. Because I hope the two test subjects I've been looking for will come on their own. Of course, even if you run away, I'll keep coming after you.]
With that, Cromwell cut off the communication. The pale-skinned modified human's eyes rolled back as he collapsed. He looked like a puppet with its strings cut.
Osian checked the modified human's condition. He appeared to be dead, as he wasn't breathing.
"What a villain. Did he use that just to deliver his words? Just as a one-time thing."
What a mayfly's life it was. And that had once been a human. Cromwell had discarded such a person's life so lightly as if casually tossing paper trash on the street.
Seren's expression hardened. Was she seeing her past self as a test subject in the dead modified human?
Osian asked Seren.
"So, are you going to retreat like this?"
"......We have to go."
Having come this far, they couldn't retreat. The two followed the light that Cromwell provided, heading toward the central passage.
How far had they descended down the dark stairs? A large passage spread out underground. The straight passage seemed to say that this was the only path here.
The drab gray-white passage had no structures whatsoever. It was a structure perfect for driving someone insane. Osian and Seren walked along that path.
Seren was extremely tense. She didn't know when or where Cromwell might launch an attack. In contrast, Osian was calm. He showed no signs of tension and hadn't even drawn the sword at his waist yet.
"Aren't you being too relaxed? What if we get ambushed?"
"It's fine."
"Fine?"
"That guy Cromwell is waiting for us right now. At least to show us something. Until then, he won't interfere with us in any way."
Seren wanted to ask how he could be so certain. But faster than that, Osian answered.
"He said it. That romance and madness are connected in nature. I don't deny those words because I have something similar too, that's how I know. He wants to defeat me with the test subjects he created."
"I can't believe it. The opponent is that Cromwell. A demon-like human who does all sorts of vicious things and doesn't choose means and methods to get what he wants."
"What he wants would be complete victory. I don't know if he'll choose means and methods, but at least he seems to insist on a certain method he's set for himself."
It was difficult for Seren to understand.
The two had reached the end of the corridor. It was a smooth metallic door made of ash-colored iron. As soon as the two stood in front of it, the door opened left and right, spewing steam.
Inside was a wide cavity. Large glass tubes stood upright at regular intervals like tombstones. The lower part of the glass tubes was connected with countless wires and metal pipes. Through those passages, electricity, energy, and ether water were supplied.
'And naturally, the test subjects that should be in the glass tubes.'
They didn't exist and the glass tubes were empty. The absence of test subjects that should have been floating there with strange liquids meant the experiment had been successful.
Soon, clanking noises could be heard from various places. Those were the artificial knights they had fought before. Those wearing crude but knight-armor-mimicking suits began to reveal themselves one by one.
"Do you plan to stop us with such a ragtag bunch?"
Did one of the artificial knights understand Osian's words? One artificial knight drew its sword. It was an emotional response.
Whoosh.
Pure white flames bloomed above the sword. Starlight brightly illuminated the interior of the dark cavity. That was the beginning. The artificial knights each ignited white, blue, and yellow lights.
Osian smiled as he watched them. While smiling, he drew the sword from his waist.
"Since it's power taken from me, I'll recover it all."
For him, there was no reason to refuse when scattered powers came to gather on their own.
Cromwell sat still in his chair, staring at the screen spread out by an artifact. On the wide monitor, dozens of split screens showed Osian's appearance from multiple angles.
Thud!
The artificial knights rushed toward Osian. Despite being created beings, their movements were disciplined and natural. Their physical abilities were the same. The human body is weak. While it can be strengthened through training, training alone couldn't create the bodies made through experiments.
So first, drugs were administered to create optimal bodies. All sorts of elements were inserted into the bodies created that way. Inexhaustible stamina, strong muscle power, special muscles and skin, bones as hard as steel. Even more resources went into this than when making modified humans. Materials were generously thrown in without sparing anything. The money that went into one artificial knight was truly considerable.
'That's how I created perfect beings. Despite being created superhumans, they possess strength that far surpasses ordinary superhumans.'
And with such superhumans, he was trying to face Knight Osian, who could be called the original.
'Osian.'
He was a very interesting human. No, he doubted whether he was human to begin with. When he first saw him, he only thought of him as someone who handled lost ancient power.
Since he was showing great interest in ancient beings at the time, he had marked him to use as a test subject later. But while secretly watching Osian's activities and seeing the traces he showed, Cromwell had to change his mind.
The ancient power that Osian handled was different from what Cromwell knew. If anything, it was much higher in class.
The decisive factor was that he had defeated an Outer God. Monsters that came from distant dimensions and caused the unscientific phenomenon called erosion in this world. He had driven away such a thing with those flames wrapped around his sword. Even watching the recorded scene over and over again, it was unbelievable.
So Cromwell dug into the past and obtained various information about knights. He also learned that Osian wasn't an ordinary human. That he really had close connections to ancient beings.
Just seeing how that Sky Dragon Amenora treated him respectfully, they seemed to have been acquainted in the past. Cromwell was curious. What was the reason that a being lost in the distant past had appeared again like this and was shining?
Could the test subjects he created really defeat such a being?
That process was now clearly unfolding on the monitor.
Slice.
The head of an artificial knight that rushed toward Osian flew off. Cromwell showed no particular reaction. Whether precious test subjects died or not, he was just accumulating data.
'As expected, fast.'
Osian was a pure-blood human. Nevertheless, the strength and movement he showed transcended common sense. Even the artificial knights made by combining all sorts of genes couldn't keep up with Osian's physical abilities.
'With such physical abilities, his swordsmanship technique is also perfected.'
The brains of artificial knights had weapon handling methods imprinted on them. Since all sorts of data existing in records were crammed into their brains, the artificial knights surpassed masters in pure martial arts alone.
But even such artificial knights were no match for Osian. When Osian smoothly deflected his sword, the starlight sword that was clashing with it was drawn to it. It was a strange sight, as if swords were stuck together with magnets.
Pure white flashes drew graceful trajectories in the air. Other starlights drawn to it were swept up as if caught in a whirlpool. The artificial knights drawn by the attractive force all met their end with their heads flying off without exception.
Some artificial knights had their necks half severed. Even trying to endure with super-regeneration ability, places cut by starlight didn't regenerate easily.
The guy swung his sword at Osian while bleeding. Although one might be disgusted by such an opponent, Osian parried the sword and completely severed the remaining half of the neck.
There was no psychological pressure or wavering. Osian calmly cutting down artificial knights looked like a farmer doing repetitive work harvesting wheat.
'Seren is also interesting.'
Several screens were capturing Seren's appearance. Contrary to expectations that she would run away when the fight started, she was directly fighting artificial knights.
What was naturally impressive was her fighting method. A starlight sword slashing at her waist passed through Seren's body. It wasn't cut down, but literally passed through as if it had slashed an illusion.
At the same time, Seren stabbed the long, sharp awl she held in both hands into the knight's head. With her weak muscle strength, she couldn't pierce the helmet with that awl. That's how Cromwell's calculations went.
Pook!
But Seren's awl easily pierced the helmet and scrambled the knight's brain. Cromwell's eyes narrowed.
"Rather than physically piercing the helmet, she changed the phase to pass through the helmet, then called the awl back to the material world in that state."
Visible but untouchable, yet unable to block incoming attacks. A being against whom no attack or defense worked.
"Visible but untouchable. What's visible is just a kind of afterimage reflected in reality. The main body is hidden beyond dimensions."
This ability wasn't anticipated when creating Serendipity. His created test subject had developed in a way that exceeded his imagination.
This was one of the very interesting elements.
Before long, all the artificial knights had fallen and become corpses. But Cromwell wasn't disappointed.
"Sufficient data has been accumulated. Prepare Alpha Prime."