"Would you like some of this?"
Anne held out the last recovery medicine she had on hand.
"...I shall accept. But is this not a precious item?" No. 700672 asked as he took it.
"No, there is plenty more waiting for us back home."
"I see... This medicine is magnificent. My masters might have been capable of such a feat, but it is astonishing that the Fallner could produce something of this caliber."
"That is incorrect," Reiko interjected, unable to stay silent. "That was created by my Father, the Magi Craft Meister. He is not one of the Fallner."
She had spoken the truth without even intending to. Jin had been summoned from Earth; he was not a native of this world.
However, to No. 700672, her words seemed like nothing more than a display of pride.
"Heh, an automata with a will of her own. I understand well your devotion to your creator. I, too, wish I could meet my masters once more, if it were possible."
"No, that is not—"
Before Reiko could continue, a command from Jin came through Laojun. He told her there was no need to explain further and that she should just let the man believe what he wanted.
After drinking the recovery medicine, No. 700672 seemed to feel slightly better. He resumed his story while remaining lying down.
"The concentration of free ether in this facility should be quite low, yet you all seem perfectly unaffected."
"Eh?"
"I require free ether to maintain my physical form. Because of that, I have been drawing in the surrounding ether, but..."
This likely explained why Alectas had become fatigued so easily.
"Wait... the density of the free ether in this area is strange."
Looking at one of the windows near the bed, No. 700672 spoke with a look of surprise.
"...What happened while I was asleep? This drop in ether concentration is abnormal."
"It may be the result of the Great Magic War and the Ether Stampede," Anne explained, giving him a brief summary of the world's history.
"I see, a Great Magic War... How foolish. To slaughter one another despite sharing common ancestors."
Then, he abruptly changed the subject.
"Regarding those 'Needles' you mentioned—it is true that my masters created them."
Alectas’s expression turned grim. However, No. 700672 continued in the same tranquil voice.
"Do not be so quick to anger. They did create them, yes. But their purpose was to control the Failures."
"Control them?"
"Indeed. I told you that the Failures refused to listen to our masters, did I not? Thus, the Agujha were created to force them to obey."
There were two types of Agujha: those that transmitted commands and those that forced compliance. Furthermore, the command-type Agujha also had a function that allowed the master to hear whatever the wearer heard.
"It would have been ideal if we could have seen through their eyes as well, but they were unable to refine the technology to that degree."
"Then those Failures must have utilized those needles to try and rule over us..." Alectas murmured.
The identity of the mastermind was now clear, but questions still lingered.
"What is their goal? To say they want to exterminate humanity seems almost illogical," Anne asked, acting as the group’s spokesperson.
"The Failures hate the Fallner. They loathe them as if they were mortal enemies."
"But why?"
"...I do not know the full details. When the masters created them, they were supposed to have factors like 'Servitude,' 'Adoration,' 'Docility,' and 'Obedience' embedded within them. However, it seems those factors all functioned in reverse."
"So that is why they call themselves Negadolls," Anne remarked, remaining calm despite the revelation.
"Most likely. You mentioned a Great Magic War earlier. There is a high probability that it was engineered by them as well."
If that were the case, the Negadolls were the enemies of both humanity and the demon race alike.
At this point, No. 700672 let out a heavy sigh and closed his eyes.
"Father, are you all right?" Neige asked, her voice laced with concern.
"Yes, I am fine. Just a little tired. It seems I can stay with you for a bit longer, though."
"I am so happy."
Neige took No. 700672's hand and smiled.
"By the way, what exactly is Neige?" Anne asked.
It was a question shared by Reiko, Alectas, and Jin’s group back on Hourai Island. No. 700672 had said that the homunculus servants he had created were all failures. So, what was Neige?
"Neige is a homunculus I created myself. Long, long after my masters created the thirteen Failures and discarded them, I made her alone."
The manufacturing of a homunculus required various special materials and secret techniques; it was no simple task.
"Perhaps it was for the best that I did not get greedy with her functions. I kept her simple, did not embed those psychological factors, and made her smaller."
Regardless of the reason, the other homunculi had not only refused to listen to No. 700672's masters but had grown to hate the Fallner—the masters' descendants.
He explained that although they had tried using the Agujha, they could not monitor the homunculi twenty-four hours a day. The moment surveillance was lifted, the Failures would do as they pleased. Eventually, the decision was made to dispose of them.
"They were all supposed to have been burned to ashes, yet..."
"The one we encountered called itself Nega-doll 001."
"...In that case, it may be the very first one that was ever made."
Anne thought back to the words Nega-doll 001 had spoken. It had claimed to be seeking revenge. It had also said it was simply doing back what had been done to it.
When she mentioned this to No. 700672, he nodded.
"That is plausible. The pain from the Agujha must have been unbearable. It is understandable that it would seek vengeance."
In the case of a homunculus, the needles were apparently embedded directly into the organ corresponding to the brain.
Since Alectas once had an Agujha embedded in his own heart, the mere thought of it made him shudder.
The group listening on Hourai Island was silent.
Learning about their own roots had clearly come as a massive shock. However, Jin alone was focused on the immediate threat.
"Laojun, tell Anne to find out exactly what kind of magi-engineering Nega-doll 001 possesses."
"Understood."
Based on the story so far, it seemed Nega-doll 001 intended to attack both the demon race and humanity indiscriminately. To that entity, there was no distinction; both were merely the descendants of its hateful masters.
"It likely intended to incite the demons against the humans so that the demons would be wiped out while simultaneously inflicting heavy casualties on the humans," Reinhard said, being the first to snap back to his senses.
"Wait, No. 700672 is about to answer."
At Jin's words, everyone turned their attention back to the magi-screen.
"The weaponry the Negadolls can handle... you say?" No. 700672 repeated Anne's question.
"Yes. It is common sense to obtain as much information as possible about an adversary."
"Heh, an automata with a will of her own... you say interesting things. That is certainly true. I shall tell you what I know."
Prefacing that some of it was speculation, the summary of what No. 700672 told them was as follows:
Agujha. Chlorine gas. Sticky bombs. Various attack magic. Illusion barriers. Metal golems. Enslaved magical beasts. Mass projectiles. Gravity bombs. Transfer devices.
"That entity possesses intelligence. There is a possibility it has created its own unique weapons as well."
The last two items on the list were of particular concern to the group on Hourai Island.
"What exactly is a gravity bomb?" Anne asked.
"You are familiar with Gravity Magic, are you not? Using its application, it is a bomb that generates immense gravity within a narrow range for a short period of time. It exerts roughly a thousand times normal gravity for a full second."
A living creature would be crushed instantly—in fact, it was hard to imagine even non-living objects withstanding such a force.
"As for a transfer device, it is something that can send objects to a predetermined location—that is, a place where a marker has been placed—or pull them back from there."
It was similar to the transporter Jin had created, but while his transporter could only send things out, this device could apparently retrieve them as well. That was a significant tactical advantage.
On the other hand, the fact that it required a physical landmark called a marker meant that Jin's transporter still had the edge in terms of versatility.
"Hmm. It looks like we'll need countermeasures for at least those two things."
Back on Hourai Island, Jin crossed his arms and began to formulate a plan.