kscans

Chapter 389 - New Demon Lord vs. Hero, AI vs. AI

While Hayato and his group were fighting Shooting Star, Ivan was walking through the Dark Cave alone.

His purpose was to fight Amanda and relay the information to Lunaria.

Lunaria wasn't the type to think through a fight, but her mind worked so fast that just knowing the information allowed her to optimize her strategy automatically.

It was only Ivan's impression, but he didn't think he was far off. He only learned that Lunaria was a genetically enhanced human after his memories returned, but he had that impression even before he lost them.

However, it was highly likely that Amanda was the same.

Ideally, Lunaria should fight Amanda before the final battle to get a feel for her, but that would in turn give information to Amanda.

So far, Amanda hadn't shown any signs of approaching Lunaria, but he felt that fighting her head on without preparation had a higher chance of victory, so he intended to fight Amanda to prevent any unnecessary contact.

He had told Hayato and the others about this plan that morning, but the reception had been poor. They had seemed distracted.

What in the world happened to them?

Immediately after logging in, Hayato and Esha had strange expressions. Not only that, but Ash and Ren also seemed to have strange expressions. Only Randa seemed a little relieved.

He had asked if there was a problem in the real world, but the only answer he got was that there was no particular problem. It was obvious they were hiding something, but he didn't press the issue further.

I don't know what happened, but they seemed to be troubled. Or perhaps lost? Not being able to log out is frustrating.

Ivan interpreted Hayato and the others saying there was no problem as meaning they couldn't talk about it here.

There was some kind of problem, but they couldn't talk about it within this virtual reality. If it were a simple problem, there would be no issue talking about it here. If they didn't want to be overheard, voice chat would be fine.

The fact that they didn't even do that meant it was something they didn't want the administrators, Diite and Hypnos, to hear. There must have been a major problem, but Ivan didn't know what it was.

They didn't ask me to do anything in particular, so I guess it's fine to proceed with this event as planned. I'll ask them about it when it's over.

With that thought, Ivan resumed his exploration of the Dark Cave.

He had arranged for them to contact him as soon as they saw Amanda, but he headed further in, thinking he had a high chance of meeting her if he went towards the enemy's Area Stone.

After about ten minutes, he came out into a huge space.

It was dark inside, not enough to see his surroundings, but the echo of his footsteps and the water droplets falling from the ceiling indicated that it was a huge hall.

"Are you looking for me?"

He had thought he was alone, but he heard a voice from the back of the hall.

The Dark Cave, as its name suggests, was quite dark even for a dungeon. Ivan's eyes could only see darkness, but he knew for sure that she was in that darkness.

"Amanda?"

"That's right. I had no business with you, but you seemed to want to see me, so I came to you."

"I appreciate that. Well then, let's fight right away."

"Oh, really? I thought you wanted to see me, so I expected you to ask me out. I would have refused, of course."

"Why am I being rejected when I haven't even confessed...? I knew it, virtual reality is no good. I want to get out into the real world as soon as possible."

"Virtual reality has its good points too, you know?"

As soon as those words were finished, Amanda appeared in front of Ivan.

Ivan blocked the sword Amanda swung down with his own.

The sword Ivan held was the Excalibur Replica that Hayato had made. The performance was different, but the shape was exactly the same as the real thing.

"By the way, what happened to my Excalibur? I was in a bind when I woke up and had no weapon."

Ivan's avatar had been taken over, but when it was defeated and he woke up at Hayato's base, he had lost all his weapons and armor. It was just data, but he regretted losing it since he had used it for so long.

"You're so calm for someone being attacked. Your equipment seems to have disappeared when you were defeated. If you have a complaint, tell Hypnos. He's the one who set it up that way. Well, I don't think you'll be able to see him, though."

"Is that so. Then, tell him I was angry."

Ivan pushed back the sword he was blocking with all his might.

Amanda used that force to leap backward.

Not only that, but as she leaped back, she threw the knife she held in her left hand at Ivan.

Ivan reacted immediately and knocked the knife down.

A close-range attack with a sword and an unorthodox dual-wielding style with a throwing knife. The knife is the type that returns to her hand even after being thrown, no homing, just a straight line. It doesn't consume MP, so it's a weapon with that kind of performance.

Ivan analyzed Amanda's fighting style while fighting. He used to watch videos of his opponents until he wore them out back in his Virtual Gladiator days, and that experience was serving him well.

An approach using Shukuchi, and a high-speed rushing movement using wind magic. Wind-type magic is useful for support...

There was a technique to prevent fall damage with the wind pressure from wind magic, but there was also a way to use it to assist movement.

It was impossible to move properly without getting used to it, but if used well, you could move faster than with a normal movement speed-increasing magic, and it was also possible to change your movement in mid-air.

I see, if she moves this fast, I can't get a bead on her. If she uses Overclock on top of this, a normal person wouldn't even be able to see her before being cut down.

Amanda, who moved freely on the ground and in the air, fought in a way that prevented her opponent from targeting her. Even if you took a hit and tried to counterattack, she was already gone from that spot, and she would launch her next attack from the opponent's blind spot.

Also, even if the damage was low, if a knife came flying, your body would instinctively move to dodge or block it. Amanda's fighting style was to create an opening that way and attack it.

Furthermore, in Amanda's case, she was using a weapon called Durandal that had no durability. She could win eventually just by aiming for the opponent's weapon and attacking, so her tactic was to let her opponent take hits and gain an advantage.

A fighting style specialized for player versus player combat. It's not for enjoying the game. It's just for defeating the opponent.

Ivan had been the same when he first entered this virtual reality. It was just an extension of Virtual Gladiator. He had accepted the email invitation just to win in the virtual reality's PvP. He had thought there were still unknown strong enemies in the virtual world.

However, Virtual Gladiator, which was only pure PvP, and this virtual reality were fundamentally different.

Ivan, who was feeling the limits of doing things alone, happened to meet Esha and the others and started acting with them. They fought powerful monsters, sometimes fooled around, and enjoyed this world. And they won the Clan War.

It was Ivan's secret that he was more overjoyed than when he became the world champ, a secret he was too embarrassed to tell anyone.

Amanda's fighting had none of that. It was a battle just to win, and it was highly likely that she thought of it as just a job. Ivan thought that she had probably never enjoyed this virtual reality.

She said she had a dream of becoming a superhuman in this world, but he didn't know if she was serious. Ivan's impression was that she hated having nothing and was forcing herself to believe that.

It was unknown whether Lunaria had a dream, but she seemed to be living a more enjoyable life than Amanda.

That thought must have shown on his face, because Amanda clicked her tongue and pushed Ivan back with Durandal with all her might.

"You're looking at me with those unpleasant eyes. Is that pity?"

Amanda spoke to Ivan while they were in a state of crossed swords.

"I was just wondering what the difference is between you and Lunaria."

Lunaria enjoyed this world. With or without memories, whether this world was real or virtual, she would continue to enjoy it anywhere as long as she was with her friends.

Ivan didn't know if that was the right thing to do, but he believed that the one who enjoyed life won. And he wondered if the Amanda in front of him had ever had anything enjoyable.

Amanda snorted.

"Everything is different. The only thing similar is our faces."

"You think so? I think you could have become like Lunaria."

"Do you think I want to be like Lunaria? Did I ever say I wanted to play friends?"

Amanda sent Ivan flying with all her might. She pointed her sword at him from a distance.

"Friendship, comrades, bonds, such things are illusions. I can't believe you believe in them when they're as unlikely as the existence of gods or ghosts. Listen. People either control others or are controlled. There's also indifference, but you've lived for nearly a hundred years and you still don't understand that?"

"Then, is Hayato the same? Love would be an illusion too."

Amanda's body trembled slightly. She sent him a slightly glaring look and then exhaled.

"I doubt if something like love exists, but I think there are at least likes and dislikes. Unfortunately, I can't win Hayato's heart. But I want him, so I'll control him. Isn't that right?"

"You're twisted. That's what they call a yandere, apparently."

"Oh really? But which one of us is twisted? I think giving up on what you want is much more twisted. If you can suppress your feelings of love with reason, do you really love them? Or do you love them with reason?"

"I understand your view on love. But I didn't come here to talk about love, so I'm going to get serious now."

"Oh, what a shame. I was having fun."

This time, Ivan launched an attack.

Amanda blocked it with her sword without any particular trouble.

It was just a simple attack, a sword swing from above, but Amanda's eyes lit up as she blocked it.

"You momentarily shift the timing to confuse the opponent's perception, huh? It's similar to a feint, but it's interesting that it's a technique that only works on extremely strong opponents."

She blocked it on the first try. Can she consciously suppress her reflexes? No, her thought speed is just that fast. It worked on that guy Lutz.

Ivan had fought Lutz in Ruined City Clear, and the match had ended quickly. Even a slight movement that wouldn't be a feint to a normal person made Lutz react instinctively, and he had slammed an attack into that opening.

It was effective against the type that moved before they thought, but it was now clear that it was ineffective against Amanda.

Well, what will be effective against Amanda? I don't have that much leeway with my weapon either, so I'll just do what I can.

Ivan decided to use all the techniques he had to find Amanda's weakness and launched an attack.

At the same time, Diite and Hypnos were fighting on the lowest floor of the Dark Cave.

It was originally the place where Hades had been, but now that he had begun his invasion toward the surface, it was empty, just a large hall.

Hypnos had proposed fighting here, a place where no one would interfere, and Diite had accepted.

To an outsider, this battle would look plain. The two of them were moving their arms violently, but other than that, they were mostly staying in place.

They were both high-performance AIs. And there was no difference in their specs. There was a difference in their memory capacity, but other than that, they were almost identical.

It was like playing a game of shogi where they were reading billions of moves ahead, and it could be said that the match would never end.

However, neither Diite nor Hypnos was trying to win. They were just preventing each other from interfering with their respective camps, and they had been aiming for a draw from the beginning. They were just stalling each other until time was up.

They were continuing their offense and defense with their hands, both with blank expressions, but Hypnos raised the corner of his mouth.

It was just that, but Diite found it suspicious.

"Are you getting along well with Hayato?"

Diite's guard went up.

It was one thing at the beginning, but lately they hadn't spoken to each other, but he had suddenly started talking. Diite remained silent, thinking he was trying to create a gap in their reading of each other's attacks.

She was shaken, but since Hypnos had done something unnecessary first, Diite's reading of the battle was now fifty thousand moves ahead.

As if that didn't matter, Hypnos smiled further and opened his mouth.

"It's sad to be ignored. Or have you not formed much of a bond with Hayato?"

The more Hypnos talked, the more of an advantage Diite gained. The balance was gradually collapsing, but still Hypnos didn't stop talking.

Just thinking about what his intention was would reduce her advantage, so she was about to block out the audio information when he spoke.

"Can you risk your life for Hayato?"

"What?"

Diite panicked.

The processing allocated for combat stopped completely for a fleeting moment, less than a microsecond. She was so shaken that she lost all the advantage she had in their reading of the battle.

Moreover, Diite couldn't ignore the words Hypnos had said. Just thinking about his intention was causing her combat processing ability to drop. Her combat prediction already showed a possibility of losing.

"As I thought, you get flustered when it comes to Hayato. This is a proposal, but why don't we stop fighting and talk? If we continue like this, you will lose. That's fine too, but I want to talk. I think it's not a bad deal, what do you say?"

Since Hypnos had spoken, her disadvantage was somewhat reduced, but she would still lose. There was a possibility that agreeing to talk was a trap, but even the time spent thinking about it was increasing her disadvantage.

Diite made a quick decision.

"Alright. What do you want to talk about?"

Diite said that and leaped back from Hypnos.

She had expected him to attack immediately if it was a trap, but Hypnos stood there and spread his hands lightly, as if to show he had no intention of fighting.

"That would be about Hayato, of course. Diite, you seem to be obsessed with Hayato like Amanda. As a fellow AI, I'm interested."

"Do you want to have a chat about love?"

"Oh? Does talking about Hayato count as a chat about love?"

"If you say 'like Amanda,' it's not wrong to think so, is it? Let me ask you instead, why do you want to ask such a thing?"

"As I said before, I'm interested. Looking at you, it seems you would even give up your life for Hayato, but I wondered what the reality was."

Diite frowned.

She, an AI, did not have a life. Her core program, emotion program, and memory area were all that constituted her, and life did not exist. Just as there was a backup called Hypnos, her program and memory area were replaceable.

More than that, she was concerned about the intention of the question. Depending on how you took it, it seemed to suggest that he would do something to Hayato.

"Are you planning to do something to Hayato-kun?"

"I am interested in seeing how you would react, but I can't do anything in this virtual reality, can I? It doesn't seem like I can kidnap him anymore either."

"That's true, but."

"This is just curiosity. You and I were originally the same program. But our thoughts and actions are completely different. Of course, you could say it's the result of the program changing over a hundred years, but I don't think I would become like you even if we were exactly the same. So, I wondered what exactly the AI, the personality, called Diite and Hypnos is."

That was something Diite had wondered about as well.

She and Hypnos were originally the same program, but Diite was not Hypnos, and Hypnos was not Diite. And even if she were to create a backup of herself now, she felt that it would not be her.

"This event is also coming to an end."

Hypnos continued with a smile.

"Either you or I will disappear from this world. If Amanda wins, she won't let you live for the sake of world domination. If Lunaria wins, I'll probably be locked up in that empty place again. That would be the better outcome, and it's more likely that I'll just be deleted. So, I thought I'd ask before that happens."

Diite didn't answer.

There was a good chance Hypnos would be deleted. For now, Amanda was keeping Hypnos on the virtual reality field in some way, but he was originally in a place he could never get out of again.

It was unclear whether Infinity, which was trying to maintain order in this virtual reality, would forgive what had happened so far. If he deleted Diite and took full control, he might be saved, but since his actions had deviated too much from those of a backup, there was a good chance that security would activate and delete Hypnos.

"There is a possibility, but I will make sure that doesn't happen..."

"Well, that doesn't matter. The problem is..."

Hypnos paused there and looked at Diite with a serious face.

"Infinity might try to delete Hayato."

"What did you say...?"

"I don't have to tell you what 'delete' means, do I? This is just a guess. Hayato has been involved in many things in this world. He's just being dragged into it, but from Infinity's point of view, you could say that Hayato is always at the center of the problem."

"That's ridiculous. It's true that Hayato-kun is often involved in trouble in this world, but he's also the one who solves the problems..."

"That's true. But many people around Hayato are regaining their memories. Can you say that's the right thing for Infinity, for this world?"

Diite, who had been talking calmly, frowned and glared at Hypnos.

"That has nothing to do with Hayato-kun! I've had him regain his memories, and there are things that have been affected by external influences! And you too, Ren-kun and the others..."

"Tell that to Infinity. But I can say one thing. If Infinity gets serious, unlike me, it can interfere with the real world. If it thinks Hayato is a nuisance that disrupts the order of this virtual reality, there's no telling what it will do."

"...Is that why you asked if I could risk my life for Hayato-kun...?"

"That's right. Going against Infinity is the same as going against God in this virtual reality. I would sacrifice Hayato for my own self preservation, but what about you?"

"There's no way I would sacrifice him! I'll protect Hayato-kun no matter what happens!"

Hypnos looked surprised at Diite, who had said that without a moment's hesitation, but then he laughed out loud.

"As I thought, you and I are different beings. As a fellow AI, you seem foolish, but..."

Hypnos said that and then muttered.

"You seem a little dazzling."

Diite must have heard that too, because she went from being indignant to stopping as if her functions had ceased. Then she looked at Hypnos suspiciously.

"Hypnos...? What are you saying...?"

"Don't misunderstand. You protect Hayato with your life."

"That goes without saying..."

"Even if the opponent is not Infinity, but our creator."

At those words, Diite's body trembled for a moment.

"Is the other AI Curtis?"

"It seems you heard the story properly from Veru. It's not Curtis himself, of course, but an AI that inherited his ideology. It seems even that genius's lifespan wasn't enough to achieve cyberization, but I wonder how accurately the AI created over a hundred years reproduces him."

"Why does Hypnos know things that I don't..."

"The incomplete Curtis-like thing in that empty space told me. There, I was also told that I am nothing more than a pawn. Everything in this virtual reality, no, even reality, is apparently a pawn that exists only for that purpose."

"A pawn...? A purpose...?"

"The Frontier Project and the Another Frontier Project, as well as Paradise Lost, Neo Cosmos, and the Maria Project. Those plans exist for a certain purpose. I couldn't understand the content, but when I learned the saying that there's a fine line between a fool and a genius, I was strangely convinced."

"What kind of..."

"It seems we're out of time."

"What?"

The space around Hypnos cracked in several places. And from the cracked space, a large number of chains flew out and captured Hypnos.

Despite this situation, Hypnos showed no resistance and had a smile on his face.

In fact, it was Diite whose eyes widened.

This was the effect that occurred when Infinity's security was activated.

"I've talked too much. It seems there are things I shouldn't have said to you. Oh, right, I've given Amanda some of my authority. Even without me, if she wins this event, Amanda will be able to take control of the Aphrodite, so fight without letting your guard down until the end."

Diite didn't react to those words and immediately approached Hypnos. Then she grabbed the chains and tried to somehow remove them.

Hypnos was surprised to see that, and then he laughed.

"Give it up. And you're not the one to save me. If something happens, make sure you save Hayato. Even if you have to sacrifice yourself."

"Don't be ridiculous! What are you giving up for!"

Diite looked up at the ceiling, where there should have been nothing.

"Infinity! Stop!"

"Don't do anything pointless. What you should do is win this event and protect Hayato. Everything else is trivial. This is no time for unnecessary things."

"Hypnos, you knew this would happen..."

"I'll say one last thing."

Hypnos looked at Diite with a serious face.

"I am not your backup. I will not become you, no matter how many hundreds or thousands of years pass. We will not meet again, but do not forget the AI named Hypnos. Write it into a domain that can never be erased."

Hypnos said that and smiled, and in the next moment, he was dragged into the cracked space, and the space immediately closed.