Chapter 1170: Source of the Data God

『Hey, if Persona is involved in the barren lands of the Chrome Continent, how old is she?』

The scars of Hell etched into Chrome are estimated to be around 500 years old. Would that make Persona and Maleficent over 500 years old?

One is a long-lived race, and the other has demonic powers. I wouldn’t be surprised if they could live that long…

But wait, isn’t Maleficent the prince of a recently fallen kingdom? Did I make some kind of mistake in my reasoning?

（I take it I am the only one hearing this question?）

『Yeah. Only you and I can hear this, Maleficent.』

（…To tell the truth, it’s related to Persona’s skill.）

He answered immediately after I asked him via telepathy. Like I thought, there must be something he doesn’t want Persona to hear.

（In other words, Persona herself is unrelated.）

『Skill?』

（It’s a dangerous skill known as “Source of the Data God”. Long ago, there was an individual with this skill in the place Hell was used, and they made the scars left by Hell eternal.）

Approximately 500 years ago, someone with “Source of the Data God” met the wielder of Hell. The two became friends, just like the current Maleficent and Persona.

So the same thing happened 500 years ago. Can this really be a coincidence?

（The Source of the Data God is shrouded in mystery, given its extraordinary power and heavy costs. Not to mention the mysterious god no one has heard of.）

『Huh? What do you mean by “mysterious god”…? Is there no such deity as the “Data God”?』

（At the very least, I’ve never heard of them. Perhaps they were once a subordinate god to the Evil God, or more accurately, the former War God.）

Huh? A subordinate god to the War God? Never heard of anything like that. Does one really exist?

I posed the question to the Evil God Fragment, but all I got in return was some kind of panicked feeling. Panicking at the question implies there’s some sort of involvement, I guess.

Maybe my reasoning was only partially correct. Either way, I wasn’t able to get any more info. Nevertheless, any skill related to the Evil God probably can’t be considered normal.

（Persona believes that her desires drew me to destroy the country of the lorelei, even though I’ve always denied it…）

I see. If she learned the Source of the Data God and Hell were connected in the past, it would only drive her to blame herself more.

Maleficent also can’t say with confidence that her skill has no effect on him. Even when he was possessed by the Envy Demon, Maleficent took Persona around with him. That’s obviously due to Persona’s skill.

（Persona cannot fully control the Source of the Data God, as her “White Sheet” ability to conceal information in the surrounding area is done unconsciously. I believe she doesn’t want her true identity to be known. She should be aware of this fact.）

『So you can’t deny the possibility that her skill is acting on its own…?』

（Not even Persona can say for sure. That said, I’m not going to bring up the subject if she doesn’t want to hear it.）

In any case, Maleficent has made it clear he doesn’t want to discuss the relationship between Persona’s skill and the ruined country of the lorelei. Let’s move on to the next subject.

「What happened inside the black dome?」

I want to hear about that too. The mech suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

「First, the fiend-looking man disappeared. He must have invoked some sort of powerful teleportation spell.」

It seems Maleficent managed to down Hideman, though the other guy managed to escape. Well, Hideman will probably be back eventually.

Maleficent retrieved Persona using spatial manipulation. That should have been enough to force a retreat, but the undead simply kept coming after her.

「They kept persistently targeting Persona, saying something about the Holy Mother’s vessel… Raydoss scum!」

「!」

「Oops, my apologies.」

The Holy Mother’s vessel, huh? No clue what that’s supposed to mean. We know the second-in-command of the Black Skeleton Corps is called the Holy Mother, but… her vessel? Does she require a new body? Or some sort of sacrifice?

Well, it’s clear this so-called vessel won’t be treated kindly.

「Persona has her “White Sheet” power. How did they know she could be the Holy Mother’s vessel?」

「It seems that has more to do with mana compatibility with this Holy Mother rather than Persona’s skills.」

I guess “compatibility” is the most important factor for this “vessel” thing.

It seems obtaining a vessel for the Holy Mother is very important. Nameless didn’t even flinch when challenging the wielder of a divine sword.

「And then, they used Cysanth-dono as a sacrifice to summon that massive metal soldier. It seems the person inside was already piloting it when they summoned it.」

Maleficent gave a hint of remorse in his explanation, but I have no doubt he’d abandon Cysanth for Persona. Nameless probably killed Cysanth the moment he realized the man wouldn’t work as a hostage. Well, no need to say it out loud though.

「So what was that silver thing? And who was the person inside it?」

「Based on what Persona saw, the name of that large metal soldier is “Armandura”. The person inside was the West Conquest Duke.」

「Armandura?」

『That’s not the important part! The West Conquest Duke? Are you sure?』

「…!」

Persona nodded vigorously. It seems this was no joke.

『What was the duke himself doing all the way over here?! And you killed him, right?』

One of the enemy leaders just kinda died without our knowledge!

「In all likelihood, that large metal soldier could only be operated by the duke.」

The duke had extracted and teleported his left and right artificial eyes. The right eye was apparently called the “Greater Droid Summoning Unit”, while the left eye was the “Biomodification Assimilation Unit”.

So the mech must be this so-called “droid” thing.

「…I have a vague memory of them from a long time ago, when my homeland was annihilated.」

It seems Raydoss has hundreds of metallic soldiers like that mech, and their forces devastated Maleficent’s homeland in an instant.

「The large one I fought off is probably among Raydoss’s greatest weapons. The metallic soldiers I saw in the past weren’t nearly as big or strong.」

So it might be a unique machine made exclusively for the duke.

The Biomodification Assimilation Unit in his left eye apparently had the ability to merge the wielder’s body with a magitech device, optimizing the performance of both the wielder and the device.

These magitech devices, including the mech, are apparently all relics. The device essentially allowed one to physically fuse with a relic and enhance its powers.

So his droid was boosted by its fusion with the pilot.

「I don’t know why Raydoss hasn’t deployed the smaller metallic soldiers in recent years… But I doubt they can hold back any longer. I expect to see more of those in the future.」

That mech was definitely strong, even if it lost to a divine sword. A smaller and weaker version might be troublesome if they come in droves.

This war must be far from over.