Archeon Genetics.
A subsidiary of the Archeon conglomerate, one of Magiterra's top 100 corporations.
Befitting its name, it primarily conducted research and development on genetics, biocompatibility, artificial organs, and circuit adaptation rates.
Even at this very moment, a meeting regarding a new project was underway in the conference room on the top floor.
"Therefore, the screening process for new candidates is expected to yield a 3.7 percent improvement in efficiency compared to the existing method..."
Holographic data hovered in the center of the spacious conference room.
The attendees were all nodding, their eyes fixed on the presenter.
Except for one person.
Leah Valencroft rested her chin on her hand, looking out the window.
A prestigious noble house leading Archeon.
As the eldest daughter of Valencroft and the current Representative of Archeon Genetics, she found the meeting utterly tedious.
To be precise, it was the people sitting in the meeting who bored her.
They were busy flaunting their business cards rather than delivering results. It was only right to excise rotten roots that no longer possessed any utility value.
"...Therefore, we deem maintaining the existing research team structure as the most stable direction for this quarter's budget adjustment proposal."
As the presentation ended, several executives began to applaud as if they had been waiting for the cue.
But when Leah raised her right hand, the conference room fell dead silent.
Straightening her posture slowly, she stared at the presenter with an emotionless expression.
"The data you just presented."
The presenter looked up, his face tense.
"Yes, Representative."
"Summarize it in three lines."
"Excuse me?"
"What you just babbled about for exactly twelve minutes. Summarize it in three lines."
Panic was clearly visible on the presenter's face at the unexpected question.
"Th-That is... While maintaining the stability of the research team structure, the budget allocation..."
"One line."
Leah cut him off.
"So you're just telling me to give you money like before."
The air in the conference room began to freeze over.
The presenter clamped his mouth shut. No, he simply could not speak another word.
Leah pointed her finger at a few people.
"You."
The face of the first executive singled out turned pale.
"You."
Then the second executive.
"And you."
Down to the third executive.
"Pardon...?"
Leah continued nonchalantly.
"You're fired. Get out."
Amid the suffocating atmosphere, several people glanced at one another, trying to process what was happening.
One of the executives who had just been dismissed managed to speak up.
"Representative, even so, this kind of decision goes against proper procedure..."
"Procedure?"
Leah tilted her head slightly at his words.
"Fine. Let's do it by the book."
She lightly tapped her wrist terminal, and the performance records of the three individuals promptly appeared on the central hologram.
Project delays, budget overruns, increased researcher turnover, and omission of failure reports. More than enough justification to throw them out.
Leah skimmed through multiple records that had been held up in internal audits, flicking through them with her fingertips.
"According to procedure, I should have fired you all much earlier."
The wrist terminals of all three flashed red simultaneously.
[Access Privileges Revoked.]
[Executive Authentication Invalidated.]
[Security Escort Requested.]
The conference room doors opened, and security personnel in black uniforms marched in to drag them out by force.
Some might call this tyranny, but she had the authority to back it up.
Leah Valencroft had never leaned on her family's name. Everything she possessed, everything she achieved... had been accomplished entirely on her own.
She personally overhauled deficit-ridden departments, disbanded failure-prone research teams, and restructured three long-term projects to nearly double Archeon Genetics' net profit.
She had often been called ruthless, but never incompetent.
Leah scanned those remaining in the conference room with cold eyes.
"Pull yourselves together."
Operating her wrist terminal, she transmitted new files to the terminals of all attendees.
[Project: Helix Gate]
[Bio-Circuit Adaptation Rate Redefinition Plan]
[Confidentiality Level: A-7]
Leah concluded succinctly.
"Read through all of it by tomorrow."
Someone ventured a cautious question.
"Representative, this project hasn't received approval from the Board of Directors yet."
"That's why I told you to read it. I didn't tell you to approve it."
Having answered the question, she rose from her seat.
"Anyone who fails to understand this material by the next meeting can pack their bags as well."
Leaving behind those final words, she stepped out of the conference room and nonchalantly entered her private office.
As the door closed, all outside noise was shut out.
Leaning back in her chair, she planned to clear her head for a moment.
"So boring."
She could obtain anything she desired; as a perfectionist, she ruthlessly pruned away what didn't work and brought her plans to fruition. And as a result, she was left with nothing but the feeling that everything was utterly dull.
Just as Leah was about to close her eyes for a moment.
Rumbleeeee!
Accompanied by a tremendous roar, the building shook violently.
Leah opened her eyes without the slightest change in her expression.
A second impact.
BOOOOM!
This time, the protective barrier outside the window began to activate. Across the distance, mana barriers flickered to life on the outer walls of corporate buildings.
Automated defense systems were reacting across the entire city.
Sensing that this was no ordinary incident, Leah rose from her seat.
As the door to her private office opened, the scene outside was already plunged into chaos, with employees sprinting down the hallways.
Leah quickly swept her gaze across the scene and grabbed an employee from the Data Analysis Team who was running closest to her.
"What is going on?"
Panting heavily, the employee bowed his head.
"R-Representative. Our department doesn't have the full details yet..."
"Summarize it."
Words Leah always emphasized. At that single phrase, the employee immediately straightened his posture.
"An absurdly high-output emission of magical energy was detected on the Underground Level."
For the first time, an uncomprehending expression crossed her face.
"The Underground Level?"
"Yes. The exact floor is still being analyzed. The sensor network was momentarily saturated, causing the coordinates to destabilize. Other corporations are also struggling to analyze the data right now."
"The source?"
"Unknown. It doesn't match any registered ACU signal."
At those words, the look in Leah's eyes changed.
"Not a registered ACU signal?"
"Yes. That makes it even more problematic."
As the employee brought up the data screen with trembling hands, a holographic graph materialized.
Most emissions of magical energy were quickly classified through the corporate network.
This allowed incidents like ACU outputs or runaway magitechnical devices to be easily identified.
Because those had predetermined waveforms, it was possible to roughly identify which corporation and which technological branch they belonged to, even if they were unstable.
However, the waveform floating on the screen was anomalous. An outlier. No, more accurately, it was a brand-new waveform that didn't exist among any of those countless data values.
And above all... an output that surged in an abnormally sharp spike over an extremely brief moment. A pattern resembling a lightning strike was displaying on the data graph.
Leah stared intently at the screen before offering an impression uncharacteristic of her.
"Interesting."
The employee froze.
"Pardon?"
"The underground, huh."
The word lingered strangely on her tongue.
Beneath Magiterra. The place where everything discarded by corporations flowed. Failed test subjects, illegal circuit users, discarded data—essentially a junkyard. An anomaly had occurred in such a place.
Leah asked the employee in a low voice.
"What is Seraph's reaction?"
The employee blinked in confusion, then hurriedly checked his terminal.
"Part of Seraph Industry's internal network has been temporarily shut down. They aren't responding to external requests."
The corner of Leah's mouth curled up slightly.
"Just as I thought."
For better or worse, Seraph was undoubtedly involved somehow. Her long-honed intuition told her as much.
Either way, it was more than enough to pique her interest.
Leah released her grip.
"Summon the entire Analysis Team. Secure the raw detection waveform. Ahead of any other corporation."
"Yes, Representative."
"And unlock the unofficial data related to the Underground Level."
The employee's face stiffened.
"If it's unofficial data..."
"Find it."
She spoke decisively.
"Whatever that is, Archeon will verify it first."
Leah's eyes gleamed even more sharply.
"I have a feeling there's something interesting waiting in the underground."
***
The hallway of Closed Residential Area C-9 was in a state where it could hardly be called a hallway anymore.
Only after the dust settled did Kael slowly exhale.
His fingertips trembled.
Ever since he destroyed the fourth ACU, the pain deep within his circuits had grown distinct. The price of forcibly igniting a parched magic circuit. He could feel his magic circuits closing once again.
He looked down at Pale, who had been reduced to nothing more than his head and the area below the nape of his neck.
He had intentionally left him that way.
That was where the 6th-tier ACU was embedded, and he figured it could serve as a valuable card.
Kael bent his knees and inspected the nape of Pale's neck.
Inside the shattered protective suit, the 6th-tier ACU glowed faintly. Red warning lines blinked across its hull, which burned hot from overload, but the core circuits were still intact.
'It's intact.'
Just as Kael was about to reach out his hand.
"...Wait."
Pale's dry voice rang out.
At his words, Kael's hand stopped.
He was still alive, but on the verge of death. Even so, his consciousness remained. Kael clicked his tongue, wondering how on earth the bastards of this world clung to life so stubbornly.
He knitted his brows slightly.
"You're quite persistent."
Pale spat out a breath laced with blood.
"You..."
Even as his life ebbed away, Pale wanted to know his opponent's identity.
"Just what... are you, really?"
Kael didn't answer.
"I'm... dying."
Pale spoke slowly.
"So... you can tell me now, can't you?"
At that, Kael looked down at him with an expression of mild exasperation.
"Tell you what?"
"Your identity."
"Haah."
"You're not... an operative from another Megacorp."
He struggled to catch his breath.
"Not a test subject... either."
"..."
Pale's voice grew fainter.
"There's no way a monster like you... could exist in this city."
Even so, he continued to press the question.
"Tell me..."
"Stop talking, you're creeping me out."
Kael cut him off curtly and let out a sigh.
Though there was no need to answer.
Telling a dying enemy his name was a habit lingering from long ago on the battlefield.
Kael revealed his identity.
"I am the Archmage of the Hero Party."
Pale's eyes froze, and he stared at Kael for several seconds, wearing an expression of total incomprehension.
Even until his final moment.
"...What kind of..."
Pale's lips trembled.
"...bullshit is that...?"
With those words, the light vanished from Pale's eyes.