In a Female-Dominant World with a 5:1 Gender Ratio, I Saved a Girl as a Kid, and She Said She Wanted to Be My Bride—Who Would’ve Thought She Was a Princess… - 34

Chapter 34: Microscopic Machines and the Invaders from the Sky

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(Alto’s POV)

Pshuuuu…

Behind me, the massive metal door closed without a sound. The clamor of the forest was completely cut off, and a silence so deep it made my ears ache.

“…This way.”

Without even glancing at me, Gideon started walking deeper inside. I followed after him without letting down my guard. The air inside was even more alien than outside. It was cool, completely free of dust—sterile, inorganic, too clean. And above all, it was bright despite the absence of any visible light source. Long, narrow bands embedded in the ceiling and walls emitted a soft, milky-white glow.

“These aren’t magic lamps…”

Their structure was fundamentally different from any magic device I knew. It was as if the building itself were breathing, circulating energy through its body. Was this really an ancient ruin? It felt more like a fortress built with some unknown technology from the far future.

The room he led me into resembled a large laboratory. Black, mirror-like panels were embedded across the entire wall. On the desks lay scattered fragments of metal of unknown purpose and intricate blueprints.

“Sit.”

Gideon jerked his chin toward a metal chair in the center of the room. When I sat down, he placed his “metal plate” on a workbench and tapped its surface with his fingertips.

Buun.

Particles of light gathered in midair, forming a single image. A three-dimensional hologram. My eyes widened. It resembled high-level illusion magic, yet there was no sign of a spell formula.

“Do you know what ‘magic’ in this world truly is?”

Gideon asked abruptly. I answered hesitantly.

“…The power to convert the magic power filling the atmosphere through mental force and cause phenomena, isn’t it?”

“That’s the textbook answer. But that’s the result, not the mechanism.”

With a cold smile, Gideon manipulated the image in the air. What appeared was a scene of countless microscopic particles undulating like waves.

“This world is filled with invisible, infinitesimal ‘factors.’ What we call magic power isn’t mere energy. They are ‘ultra-micro autonomous terminals’ that receive command instructions and execute them.”

“Autonomous… Terminals?”

“Correct. In ancient times, beings with technology worthy of being called gods scattered these invisible limbs to manage this world. We mages merely send commands to them via brainwaves.”

I was left speechless. Magic was based on a kind of “command authority”? If that was true, then the reason men couldn’t use magic was—

“Yes. Men lack the pass for that ‘command authority.’ It’s locked at the genetic level. …However, within this ruin, I found a ‘key tool’ that forcibly pushes commands through.”

What he indicated was that metal plate. It wasn’t a staff. It was an ancient relic used to issue commands directly to those microscopic terminals.

“Now then, here’s the main point.”

Gideon switched the image. This time, a human silhouette appeared. From above its head, a thick beam of light poured down, piercing the brain and heart.

“The princess’s ‘Magical Erosion’… That isn’t an illness.”

“What do you mean?”

“She is connected too deeply.”

Gideon’s voice dropped, heavy and grave.

“Royal women possess abnormally high sensitivity to this world’s system. They’re essentially high-performance antennas. …But right now, someone is forcibly sending an enormous amount of power from outside, trying to burn out the ‘vessel’ that is her body.”

“From outside…?”

The image of the wolf I had fought in the forest flashed through my mind. The threads of light descending from the sky. The monsters were forcibly strengthened and controlled by something.

“Don’t tell me… Lilianna is like that wolf too?”

“That’s right. Someone is using her connection to interfere with the world itself. She is being forced to bear that tremendous load alone. She’s basically a ‘sacrifice.’”

Bang!

I slammed my fist onto the desk without thinking.

“Who!? Who would do something like that!?”

“I don’t know. But the enemy is above the sky.”

Gideon pointed at the ceiling.

“Beyond the heavens…Perhaps where gods reside. From there, they are intervening in her body. That’s why medicines or dispersing magic power inside her accomplish nothing. Unless that connection is severed, her vessel will soon reach its limit and shatter.”

That was the truth behind the short lifespan. It wasn’t an illness. It wasn’t genetics. For generations, royal princesses had been consumed and used up by some unseen being. As rage surged within me, a single course of action came into focus.

“…If the cause is ‘excessive external interference,’ then blocking it will save her, right?”

“In theory, yes.”

Gideon nodded then shook his head.

“But the opponent’s output is on par with divine authority. If you try to block it with ordinary magic devices, they’ll fail under the load and vaporize instantly.”

No ordinary material could withstand it. Not mithril. Not orichalcum. I bit my lip. Was there truly no way?

“…But there is a material.”

Gideon stood and walked to a storage vault at the back of the room. When he returned, he held a dull, silver-colored ore.

“A special alloy that can be extracted near the reactor deep within this ruin. It repels magical interference better than any substance in this world. …We’ll process this and create a ‘firewall’ in the shape of a ring for her finger.”

“A firewall…?”

“Yes. A ring that physically blocks access to her. With this, we should at least be able to prevent interference from the sky.”

I accepted the ore. It was heavy, oppressively so. And when I tried to channel magic power into it, it bounced back as if repelled by rubber. This might work.

“Processing it requires absurd amounts of magic power. Ordinary fire won’t even melt it.”

Gideon grinned.

“Can you do it, Alto? This is a race against time.”

“…I’ll do it.”

I clenched the ore in my hand. There was fear in using my “darkness.” But now that I knew the true source gnawing away at Lilianna was ‘malice from the sky,’ I didn’t have the luxury of hesitation.

“I don’t know who that ‘invisible enemy’ is… But I won’t let them do whatever they want to Lilianna anymore.”

A flame of resolve burned in my eyes. Gideon nodded in satisfaction and deployed a hologram over the workbench.

“Good eyes. Then let’s begin… The battle to reclaim the system.”

Deep within the ancient ruins, the heretical sage and I began crafting a ring of hope to oppose the unseen enemy.

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