Modern World Warlock-Chapter 252: The Whispers of the Dead

When android Forty-two unleashed a barrage of small missiles against Dante, he quickly rushed to the other side of the room to avoid them.

However, noticing the missiles turning and following him made him realize they were homing projectiles, so he quickly aimed his palm forward and cast a "Destro" spell, turning them to dust before they could explode.

"This room isn't that big… Are you sure you want to do that?" Dante pondered aloud.

"The core's safety is prioritized…" she replied.

*Tch* "What happened to all that progress you were making? I thought you wanted to help people!" The warlock exclaimed, trying to get the android to her senses.

"Protect the people of Novaria.

Protect the core." Forty-two said, repeating two of her commands.

"The core is made by killing the people you are supposed to protect!" Dante continued.

"That would be contradictory…" she replied.

"We just talked about this!" Dante exclaimed, feeling slightly frustrated.

As Forty-two stood still for a moment processing the information, the warlock relished the opportunity to destroy the core. Nonetheless, as soon as he aimed his palm at the orb, he felt a fist striking him in the stomach, pushing him back.

Dante gritted his teeth after the punch, irritated at the fact that he couldn't avoid it since he couldn't sense the android's aggression.

'I'll have to take an arm or two…' Dante thought.

Pointing his finger-gun gesture at Forty-two, he cast a "Destro" spell aimed at her arm, but she quickly avoided it by using the rocket boosters on her legs, propelling her to the side of the room.

Using the same boosters, the android launched herself at high speeds toward Dante with her fist forward, prompting the warlock to raise his forearm to defend himself.

As soon as her knuckles made contact with Dante's arm, it created an explosion that should have sent the warlock flying. Nonetheless, he stood still in his spot, unmoving and firm.

The blast burned Dante's forearm quite severely, and having the opportunity to counter, he used his healthy hand to grab onto Forty-two's arm, flinging her like a rag-doll against the wall of the room.

"Huh?" Dante hummed, noticing he was holding the android's severed forearm.

'I don't think I pulled hard enough for it to come off…' He thought.

Suddenly, a small rocket booster appeared from the arm's elbow, propelling the arm upwards and hitting the warlock on the chin before flying back to its owner, who stuck her arm back to her body like a puzzle piece.

Realizing that taking one of the android's arms would be more complicated than he expected, Dante tried to come up with another method to stop her assault.

It was the first time he fought someone who could separate pieces of their bodies and have them attack independently, and the lack of energy flowing from her made it even harder for him to predict her attacks.

Not wanting the android to demolish the entire room with her explosives, Dante thought that a close-quarter fight would be safer, rushing towards the android at high speeds.

Still, the android's system had installed expert martial arts tactics, which made landing a blow almost as tricky as landing one on Megan.

As Dante and Forty-two exchanged a rapid barrage of strikes and kicks, the warlock moved to the side and used the necrotic core to cover himself from a boosted punch coming from the android. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom

However, she abruptly stopped her movements when she realized she would shatter the core, and the whispers of the dead became louder and more desperate.

"Free us!" The voices from the core resonated in the android's system.

"Do you hear them, Forty-two!? The people you were meant to save—They are right in front of you!" Dante exclaimed.

The android stood still for a few seconds with her hand extended near the necrotic core, and as she kept listening to the cries of the dead, trails of umbra came out of her body.

Dante instantly detected the flow of energy, noting that it was a bit stronger than the previous times, and confirmed that the core was affecting the android's personality in such a severe way that genuine human emotions were forming.

"I don't understand… My system's malfunction," Forty-two muttered.

"You are not broken… You are feeling sadness," Dante replied, approaching the android without hostility.

"Hesitation is a sign of malfunctioning…" she continued.

"Is that so? Explain to me how," Dante said with a somewhat sarcastic tone.

"Because I was tasked with protecting…-" The android replied, stopping right at the end of her sentence.

"Protecting what?" Dante confidently asked.

While thinking of her answer, the whispers of the dead continued imploring Forty-two to free them from their prison and their suffering.

"How could I feel sadness…? As an AI, I was programmed not to have emotions," she muttered.

Dante explained that he wasn't familiar with androids like her, so he wasn't entirely sure why she was displaying emotions whenever she was near the necrotic core.

However, after being exposed to the orb for so long, he was able to read her umbra more thoroughly and theorized that her body wanted to obtain sentience, but it seemed to be battling against some type of force—guessing that it could be the programming of her system.

"Please, save us!" The dead kept on shouting at the android.

At that moment, Forty-two gritted her teeth with frustration, an expression that was wholly unnatural for androids, who seemed stoic even at death's door.

"You were given two contradictory commands. I suppose they were given by two different people… Which one do you value the most?" Dante asked.

"I… Wouldn't know—As an AI, I was programmed not to question my comma-," Forty-two tried to reply, getting cut off by Dante.

"I didn't ask what you were programmed to do. I asked what do YOU value the most?" The warlock asked again in a louder tone.

Dante wanted to see if he could turn the android completely sentient with personal questions. However, his words sent her into a state of trance with her hand extended towards the necrotic core, completely unmoving and frozen.

The warlock had no way of knowing, but Forty-two's computer brain was scanning every single line of code that had been written in her system.