Does the Assassin Girl Dream of the Mana Doll?

Stepping into the vast room known as the ‘Garden of the Emperor of Thunder’ her anti-magic barrier deployed, as she scanned her surroundings.

The dense concentration of magic, swirling around her like glittering particles, was almost dreamlike. Yet, knowing that this was the once bustling place, filled with countless instruments and devices, now desolate and abandoned, filled her with a sense of melancholy.

The Strategic-Class Magic Weapon, “Wiskeref.”

This place, once the source of the power that wreaked havoc in various regions, had been filled with instruments and devices brought in to control or harness its power, with many sorcerers stationed here for research

But now, all that was gone. While some remnants of the past still remained, the passage of time was undeniably evident.

Moreover…

“For so much mana to be leaking out… is the control system failing?”

That’s right…. In the past, there hadn’t been this much mana leakage. When the prince had explained it, she had thought it might be a bit harsh for people today, but this was on another level entirely. Even Ellie would struggle without a barrier.

Controlling the strength of her barrier, she suppressed her urge to hurry and approached cautiously. The closer she got, the more she felt the physical pressure of the magic, as if it might repel her, and each step forward felt like pushing against an invisible force.

In this light-filled space, where nothing but light could be seen, her sense of time and distance began to blur. Each time she started to lose track of how far or how long she’d walked, she shook her head lightly to clear her thoughts.

Although it wasn’t exactly “magic intoxication,” being exposed to such a violent torrent of light for so long might be affecting her data processing circuits.

With these fragmented thoughts swirling in her mind, she finally arrived at her destination.

The core of “Wiskeref,” the massive mana reactor.

Unlike Ellie’s “Void Generator,” which gathered small amounts of mana from a designated area, concentrated it, and converted it into usable Mana at the command of the user, this reactor operated on a different principle. While the “Void Generator” could be miniaturised and mounted on mobile weapons like mana dolls, “wiskeref” required a much larger facility. However, its defining feature was that it allowed ‘multiple people’ to wield tremendous power..

It was said that it was created by humans who feared relying solely on mana dolls, desiring power that surpassed them, though Ellie wasn’t sure of the truth.

What was certain, however, was that this was a power far beyond what the people of this era could handle… “Wiskeref,” which had been left to gather and release mana without maintenance, was nearing its limit.

With that thought in mind, she approached a familiar control terminal near the magic furnace.

‘It seemed to be still functioning’ She thought

Ellie sat in the chair, brushed back her hair, and reached toward the nape of her neck. She pulled out a single cord, connected it to the terminal’s port, and closed her eyes, synchronising the majority of her data processing circuits with the terminal.

After a faint moment of resistance, she confirmed that the connection and synchronization were successful.

“Wiskeref,’ can you hear me? … It’s been a long time, Eliminator Identification Number 739.”

“Identification… number… 739… confirming… authorization…”

… The response was awfully slow.

It was clear that it was deteriorating.
But she hadn’t expected it to this extent…

Despite this, her authority was verified and authenticated. Investigating the cause would have to wait. For now, she needed to focus on the task at hand.

Instead of operating the terminal, she used her directly connected information processing circuit as an input device.
Without the need for physical manipulation, she proceeded at high speed.

She checked the current processes and the performance of the wiskeref and the status of its various devices.

… And she noticed a slight noise.

One by one, she began to stop and terminate the running processes. It wasn’t impossible to halt everything at once, but it would place too much strain on the already degraded “wiskeref,” potentially causing a system failure.

Suppressing her anxiety, she proceeded, step by step.

She deactivated all the functions of the “Staff.” With this, Georg and the others would no longer be threatened by its power..

Next, she disabled the mana collection function. Now, as long as she could control the remaining stored mana, the threat of a massive magic surge would almost be eliminated.

Finally, when she began to shut down the critical “Orb,” the highest-level control terminal used by the queen, something unusual happened.

An unmistakable sense of wrongness. Not something due to deterioration—this was created…

“It’s not a bug caused by deterioration… could it be a virus?!”

The moment she realised it, she pushed her data processing circuits to their limits. She erected a barrier to block any interference while forcefully attempting to override the process with the necessary shutdown procedures.

Ellie herself didn’t have the ability to directly counter this “foreign entity.”

If the ‘foreign entity’ had the ability to attack her, she could only defend herself.

It hadn’t attacked her yet, but it was trying to block the shutdown process and prioritise its own processes.

… What was it trying to do…?
Ellie had no ability to analyse it.

One thing was certain: she couldn’t shut down the ‘Orb’ as it was.

“Next: The One Who Dwells on the Throne”