Following the voice, Cao Cao pulled his phone from his pocket. The device had switched itself on, and a blue cat appeared on the screen. He gestured to his companions behind him, signaling them to step back.
"Hey there, buddy. Nice to meet you. You can call me Mogwai."
The mechanical voice coming from the phone was unmistakably cheerful. Cao Cao's grave expression suddenly gave way to a smile.
He tossed the phone away to maintain a safe distance, then raised Longinus into a combat stance.
"What are you?"
He spoke solemnly as powerful Magical Power gathered around Longinus. Faced with something this suspicious appearing out of nowhere, Cao Cao was ready to destroy the phone and flee the instant anything went wrong.
"Me? At the moment, I'm probably some kind of nature spirit, or perhaps an artificial intelligence. Well, don't worry too much about who I am, buddy. All you need to know is that I'm here to help you."
The blue cat on the screen waved its chibi limbs and smiled in a remarkably human way.
Cao Cao only grew more cautious.
As a terrorist belonging to the Hero Faction who had caused trouble and incited rebellions around the world, he had seen plenty of unusual things. Yet the creature before him gave off a sense of danger comparable only to Shadow and his teacher.
This unknown being was dangerous.
Still, it might be possible to negotiate with it.
His thoughts raced. Seeing that the blue cat had no intention of attacking immediately, Cao Cao recognized its desire to cooperate and lowered the tip of Longinus, though he did not put it away completely. He straightened his clothes and gave a contemptuous smile.
"Help me? Someone who doesn't even dare show himself is offering to help me? You must be joking. What exactly do you think you can do for me?"
His words were mocking and filled with genuine disdain, making Cao Cao look exceptionally punchable. Yet his final question revealed his true intent.
"There are many ways I can help you, but I can't offer anything tangible. As I said, I'm something similar to an artificial intelligence, so I'm unable to manifest in the real world."
Understanding Cao Cao's implication, the blue cat remained unfazed by his provocation. It calmly laid out what it could offer and provided what it considered a reasonable explanation.
"Are you wasting my time?!"
Cao Cao's expression darkened instantly.
To him, Mogwai's answer was no different from saying, "I can provide every kind of help except anything material." It was nothing but empty evasion. He could not believe he had treated a cat trying to gain something for nothing with such caution. What a waste of effort.
"Of course not, buddy. I may be unable to offer material assistance, but sometimes intellectual assistance is worth far more."
"Oh? Such as?"
A mocking smile remained on Cao Cao's face, and his tone carried open sarcasm.
He was already growing tired of what he had initially assumed would be a worthwhile negotiation. The other party appeared unwilling to pay any price, and he could see no way to make use of it. He could not imagine what might persuade him.
"For example, I can provide you with technology. Technology capable of filling the hole in your plan. My young mistress is quite clever, you know."
Perhaps it was only his imagination, but when the blue cat spoke those words, a spark of life appeared deep within its otherwise lifeless eyes. Until then, those eyes had perfectly matched Mogwai's claim of being artificial intelligence, but now they seemed to come alive.
"You're awfully confident. Judging by the fact that you only approached me now, you must not have noticed us until after this morning's battle. Do you truly know what we need?"
Cao Cao spoke without expression, lightly tapping Longinus against his shoulder as he probed for information.
"I believe I do. If I'm correct about why you attacked the Infinite Dragon God, then I should be able to provide you with a similar substitute."
Cao Cao lowered Longinus from his shoulder and stared at the blue cat with unreadable eyes.
Just as everyone behind him thought he was about to attack, he suddenly smiled.
"Then explain it. What do you think you can offer to convince me? Or rather, how am I supposed to believe that a mysterious being like you can create a replacement for Ophis?"
"You don't need to worry about that, buddy. My young mistress may still be inexperienced, but she is already capable of producing something this simple. I can send you a copy right now."
The moment Mogwai finished speaking, a notification chimed behind Cao Cao.
He turned around and saw that all his teammates were staring at Jeanne. The sound had clearly come from her phone.
Jeanne's expression stiffened slightly under their gazes. She hurriedly pulled out her phone, its screen already lit. A file had been sent by an unknown account.
When she opened it, a chaotic array of magical runes filled the display.
Without hesitation, Jeanne handed the phone to Georg, who was the most knowledgeable about such things. He was, after all, the technical expert of their group.
Georg accepted the phone and examined it cautiously.
At first, he only glanced over it. Then his body went still, and his previously casual expression vanished. He rapidly scrolled to the bottom, a thoughtful look flashing through his eyes before he closed them and began working through the theory in his mind.
"Georg, how is it? Will it work?"
A moment later, Georg opened his eyes. Cao Cao immediately questioned him.
Georg nodded.
"There should be no problem. If this technology functions as described, it can indeed replace Ophis's role. It might even perform better."
"Should be? Georg, you're not the sort of person who gives vague answers. Are you certain there's nothing wrong with it?"
Jeanne immediately pointed out the uncertainty in his words. She did not trust this mysterious blue cat in the slightest.
"Because this doesn't feel like something that was only recently developed. There are many signs of modern refinement throughout it, yet I had never heard of anything like it before today."
Georg shook his head and voiced what had troubled him.
Technology showing this many signs of repeated updates and revisions, yet remaining completely unknown, could only be one of two things. Either it had been created by accident, or it was a simplified version of some vast ritual.
"So can we use it?"
Cao Cao understood Georg's concerns, but as a pragmatist, he only wanted to know whether it worked.
If it worked, he would use it.
"Yes. As I said, it's an ancient Magic Formula that has undergone extensive modernization. Its underlying theory is completely sound, and every modification only strengthens its effects."
"It also won't suffer from the same issues as the Magic Formulas spread by Netheril, because this was improved from the previous version."
Georg gave a firm answer.
As the heir to a top tier magical faction, he could clearly sense the alien quality of the technique. It was utterly unlike anything from their world, almost as though it had been created by extraterrestrials.
"I see... Fine. I accept the deal. What do you want us to do?"
After muttering to himself, Cao Cao nodded and accepted the blue cat's proposal. He then directly asked what price they would have to pay.
If the demand was absurd, he would simply run. Georg had already memorized the information anyway.
"Nothing. You don't need to do anything."
"Hm?"
To Cao Cao's surprise, the blue cat asked for nothing in return. Its head merely shook on the electronic display.
"I already told you. This is simply assistance from my young mistress."
"..."
Everyone stared at the blue cat as silence settled over the area.
Nothing was more expensive than something offered for free.
The entire world had already been deceived by Netheril once. If they still failed to understand that principle, they would truly be fools.
So...
"Then please convey my gratitude to your young mistress. Everyone, we're leaving."
Cao Cao answered with a smile and said nothing more. He thrust Longinus forward and shattered the phone.
Georg, who had already memorized the data, destroyed the phone in his own hand as well.
"Your young mistress, huh? Hah. This world really has become more chaotic lately. Every kind of monster and freak is crawling out of hiding..."
Muttering the title used by the blue cat that called itself Mogwai, Cao Cao sighed over the endless disasters of recent days.
One hidden danger after another had emerged, all apparently intent on flooring the accelerator as the world teetered on the brink of destruction.
"Georg, what do you think this 'young mistress' of the blue cat might be? This was essentially a clash of knowledge from afar. You should at least have a rough idea."
Cao Cao turned toward Georg.
Although he pretended not to care about the so called young mistress, Cao Cao knew just how terrifying the hidden masterminds and geniuses within the major factions could be. Deep down, he was more than a little wary.
"I don't know. Possessing knowledge doesn't necessarily mean someone is powerful. Knowledge merely determines how much leverage a person can gain from the strength they already possess."
"Then let me put it another way. If that young mistress wanted to destroy the world, where would her chances of success rank among the people we know?"
"Well... Judging by the information that cat gave me, I would place her above Hades. That assumes everything we know about this group, including the young mistress, is the full extent of their capabilities."
After thinking it over, Georg offered what he considered a conservative estimate.
"So even if that young mistress wanted to destroy the world, she would still need around two months? Then we should have enough time. That's more than sufficient to complete our plan."
Having obtained a relatively conservative estimate from Georg, Cao Cao breathed a sigh of relief. At least they still had time to spare.
His teammates, however, were far less composed.
"Cao Cao, you're planning to use what that cat gave us? Isn't that far too risky?"
Understanding Cao Cao's implication, Georg stepped forward.
There was no possible way they could find something capable of replacing Ophis within two months. If they wanted to complete their plan within that period, their only option was to use the information they had just received.
"Exactly. That blue cat gave me the same feeling as the evil creatures recorded in the Bible. It felt like one sword strike would trigger a whole list of special effects against it. There's a very good chance it belongs to the Biblical God Faction."
Jeanne nodded.
She did not believe a word the blue cat had said. The last person who had given her this same sensation of a guaranteed critical hit had been Vali's adoptive father, and even that feeling had only been one quarter as intense.
She would never believe this was not some famous entity recorded in the Bible.
"We don't have a choice..."
Cao Cao understood his companions' concerns. Nothing was more expensive than something free.
Even so, he merely shook his head.
"We're running out of time. We've already eliminated the Infinite Dragon God, and the Lord of Heaven's fate is unknown. Of the so called World's Five Strongest, only three remain. How long do you think those three can hold out?
"Before that group of lunatics gets past Shadow, the Lord of Netheril, and Great Red, then floors the accelerator one final time and drives this dying world into an endless abyss, we must complete our plan. Otherwise, we'll have no choice but to die alongside this world."
Seeing everyone fall silent, Cao Cao continued.
"That young mistress obviously isn't helping us out of kindness, but does she truly know our goal?"
"Since she doesn't want a transaction and insists on calling this assistance, then she can't blame us for refusing to acknowledge any debt. Once our plan succeeds and the world is destroyed, every scheme she has will become meaningless."
His tone was decisive.
Cao Cao swept his gaze over the group. Once he confirmed that none of his companions intended to withdraw, he nodded confidently.
"Our luck was simply terrible this time. We ran straight into Shadow, the strongest being in the world. Otherwise, even if we had encountered a Transcender, we would still have escaped."
"What is there to hesitate over? If we fail to complete our plan before that group of lunatics destroys the world, then we'll simply be destroyed along with it."
"You're right, Cao Cao. We don't know what they intend to use us for, but once we destroy those lunatics along with the world, whatever they were planning will become meaningless."
Georg exhaled, his expression hardening as he agreed with Cao Cao's plan.
"Cao Cao, aren't you going to bring our teacher with us? No matter what else, he did save us today."
Jeanne seemed to remember something and glanced toward the sky before cautiously asking Cao Cao.
After the battle that had drawn the attention of the entire world, they had all finally recognized their teacher's true identity.
"Him? I originally planned to, but I don't think it's necessary anymore. He possesses the strength of the world's strongest. If that group of lunatics hasn't beaten him to death before we complete our plan and destroy the world, then he won't die anyway."
Cao Cao's expression darkened as he remembered being pinned to the ground a year ago and asked whether they wanted to die or become disciples.
...
In a bottomless underground chamber, a highly mechanical device stood at the center of the vast space. Its screen displayed the moment Giada killed Laugus.
"He's dead? A rare casualty."
The lights came on.
More than a hundred identical Laugus stepped out, picked up their experimental reports, and resumed their research.