A short while before the Jin Double and his companions arrived at the incubation room.
"With that body, you should be even more superior than Arshel."
The masked Rokure loomed over Belialus.
"That is why you will cooperate in the creation of a homunculus... No, wait."
Rokure’s movements came to a halt.
"Why bother going through the trouble of creating a homunculus... when I could simply take that body for myself? Hmm."
"Wait! What are you talking about!?"
Rokure began moving again. It might have been his imagination, but the eyes peering through the mask seemed to burn with a dangerous light.
"Do not worry. I will not kill you. I am simply taking your body."
"As if I’d just nod and agree to that!"
Driven by terror, Belialus attempted to flee. However, Rokure’s next words rooted him to the spot.
"If you refuse, I shall have no choice but to use Arshel’s body instead."
"Wh... What!?"
It was as if his sister were being held hostage. In the split second Belialus hesitated—
"Paralyze."
"Guaah!"
Struck by a Paralyze spell cast from the ceiling, he collapsed onto the floor.
Rokure carried him to a workbench and secured his limbs with restraint belts. Then, he began to operate a complex Magi Machine.
＊ ＊ ＊
"No. 600012, stop this."
The No. 600012 who had arrived with the Jin Double called out.
The masked Rokure—the other No. 600012—turned around.
Through the Jin Double's eyes, Jin could tell that the magical skin hidden beneath that mask was beginning to deteriorate.
"No. 600012, do not interfere!" the masked one shouted.
Jin noted that the unit's behavior was unstable. His movements were jerky, riddled with unnecessary, redundant motions.
(Is this the adverse effect of the Malite...? It seems to be affecting part of his control system and a fraction of his logic circuits.)
Jin, observing from afar, could remain objective. A subtle time lag plagued the masked No. 600012’s reactions, while his pseudo-emotions appeared abnormally heightened.
"Do not stop me! I see, those intruders are misleading you, aren't they, No. 600012?...Paralyze!"
The magic that had incapacitated Belialus rained down from the ceiling. However, the spell had no effect on the Jin Double or Reiko, who were both automata.
"Wh... What...?"
"No. 600012, enough. That is enough," the sane unit pleaded.
But the masked No. 600012 refused to listen.
"Nngh, No. 600012 is acting strange because you lot are here. Golem 7410, drive them out!"
He could not attack "himself," but the same did not apply to the Jin Double and Reiko. Rokure ordered a golem, which appeared to be a general-purpose model, to eliminate the pair.
"Wait!"
Ignoring the sane No. 600012’s attempt to stop it, the copper-colored golem, standing over two meters tall, lunged at the Jin Double first.
"How annoying," the double muttered.
The Jin Double was not Jin himself, but he was one of Jin's masterpieces. Reiko stepped in front of him to intercept the golem.
A heavy thud echoed as cracks spread across the synthetic nephrite floor.
Reiko had used an arm throw to hurl Golem 7410 across the room.
However, despite being thrown with enough force to normally shatter a golem into scrap, Golem 7410 stood back up. Its body wasn't even significantly dented.
(It’s unexpectedly sturdy.)
Back on Hourai Island, Jin grew slightly interested in the golem's composition.
"Fuhaha! Did you think something of that level could stop Golem 7410!?" Rokure shouted.
Hearing that maniacal tone, Jin was reminded of the madness once displayed by the Golden Destruction Princess, Elena.
"Reiko, finish it."
Before the words were even fully out of his mouth, Golem 7410 was slammed into the floor. Reiko had leapt into the air and delivered a crushing heel drop.
It wasn't a simple physical strike; it was a heel drop enhanced by her force generator.
Rather than relying on her meager thirty-kilogram weight, she fixed her body in the air using the generator, delivering a strike powerful enough to crush Golem 7410’s head and embed its entire frame into the floor.
"U-Uungh..."
It was hard to tell if he had teeth, but Rokure seemed to grind them in frustration.
The sane No. 600012 immediately spoke up.
"Did I not tell you? I said to stop. Our mission is already on the verge of being fulfilled."
Finally, the words seemed to penetrate Rokure’s haze.
"...What!?...What do you mean...?"
His frantic state began to subside. In a tone as if gently reasoning with a child, the sane No. 600012 continued.
"The one to whom we must fulfill our Master’s final wish is right here."
The unmasked No. 600012 pointed at the Jin Double.
"You are saying this person is the Successor?" the masked unit asked, his voice dubious.
"Indeed. Our Master left a final command: 'Find one who is worthy, and pass it on.'"
"I know that. But how can we be sure this person is worthy?"
"He is Jin Nidou, the Magi Craft Meister. Is there anyone in this world more worthy than him?"
"...True, that makes sense. He possesses the technology to create a servant that Golem 7410 could not even touch..."
"Yes. You seem to finally understand."
＊ ＊ ＊
"..."
Left out of the conversation, Jin couldn't quite grasp what they were discussing. However...
『It appears No. 600012 is searching for someone to pass on some form of knowledge or information to, and he is claiming that person is you, My Lord,』 Laojun conveyed.
"That’s certainly possible, but..."
『My Lord is the only Magi Craft Meister in the world. It is not surprising that you would be considered to have some kind of qualification.』
"Hmm..."
That aside, Jin honestly wanted to avoid being burdened with some mysterious responsibility he didn't understand.
＊ ＊ ＊
"But how shall the final judgment be made? How do we know he truly possesses the qualification?" the masked No. 600012 argued.
"That is simple. He possesses the Crystal Cube. That is sufficient."
The Crystal Cube he had borrowed from No. 700672. Jin hadn't thought much about its significance, but it was clearly vital to the units here.
"Jin-dono, would you mind taking out the Crystal Cube and showing it to us?"
"Y-Yes."
The Jin Double took the Crystal Cube from his inner pocket and held it up. In that instant—
"Oh, it truly is..."
"That is..."
The two No. 600012 units suddenly dropped to their knees.
"Eh!?"
Jin was watching through the double, but the reaction of the two units was more intense than he had imagined.
"It is not the Master... but this mana is nostalgic. Truly nostalgic."
"...With you possessing that, there is no doubt. You are the Successor."
The two No. 600012s reached out toward the Jin Double—the masked unit from the front, and the other from the side.
"Now is the time to fulfill our Master’s final wish."
"I offer my gratitude for this meeting."
"Send Info."
"Send Info."
"Wait—"
Before the Jin Double could stop them, the two No. 600012 units activated their knowledge transfer.