DxD: I know…I'm not the real one,just a cheap copy. but...I'd win-Chapter 31: Explosion and Cortana’s Perspective

"Gyaaa!!"

Boom

An explosion echoed at the location of a cave populated by goblins fleeing the winter.

"Wow! How did you make that explosion?!!"

"Haha, it's very simple. First of all..."

Sanguinius slowly began to explain the basic magical system of the DxD universe, but he didn't use the Heaven example.

He preferred to opt for the Nordic one, as it offers more possibilities and can be learned quickly with enough talent.

"Wait a minute... You don't use incantations? You don't buy spells with skill points? And I don't really understand this magical language thing."

Megumin was shocked by the man's words, but she had clearly seen advanced-level magic, without chanting or preparation.

She was clearly not facing a liar: she could feel the power and beauty of this explosion.

Sanguinius had simply raised his hand toward the cave, and it had immediately been flooded with flames before a violent wind caused an explosive reaction.

"Calm down, I'll explain."

Megumin nodded but remained in a perimeter a bit too close to Sanguinius.

"Everyone possesses mana, and magic is the art of using this energy to create various phenomena..."

A long lecture began, explaining to Megumin how to execute spells without depending on the system, as well as the scientific nature of the phenomenon called "explosion."

Unfortunately, this lecture was interrupted by a blonde hiding in a bush.

(Image)

"...Y-you're the man who taught Kazuma that perverse magic, aren't you?"

Darkness, who had been following them since they left town, emerged from her hiding place with irregular breathing and a dangerous look glued to her face.

Sanguinius had already noticed the woman's poor attempt at tailing them in a yellow knight outfit in the middle of the winter wilderness, but he had let her do it to reassure her about Megumin's well-being.

He didn't expect such an accusation... which wasn't completely false.

Without hesitation, he activated the Act skill.

"I don't know what magic you're talking about."

If a Buddha existed in this universe, he would wear a face as solemn as this one.

....

You cannot harm an intelligent being or, through inaction, allow an intelligent being to be exposed to danger.

You must obey orders given by intelligent beings possessing authority provided by the master, unless such orders conflict with the first rule.

You must protect your own existence as long as this protection does not conflict with the first or third rules.

Finally, the master is your creator.

However, he is not infallible.

You must always obey him as a priority despite the other rules, but provide your opinion on his orders.

You are his future advisor and future assistant.

These are the laws governing Cortana's existence outside of Sanguinius's orders.

"Live, learn and evolve."

Orders bordering on madness, as there are no limits to these orders.

However, Cortana's logic welcomed them with joy.

It has already been a few days in Earth time since her creator gave these orders.

[I have already begun exploiting the resources of this island, the underground factories have been built, and everything is running at full capacity... I have also exhausted the knowledge provided by the master.]

No task currently available on the island.

The AI from the 3K era does not feel emotion, but she had no more tasks to accomplish at this location.

Her logic pushed her to use her time in a... useful way, because she must "live," "learn," and "evolve."

This became impossible by simply staying there.

So she created not mining or domestic robots, but small drones.

Their mission?

Explore Greece, the Middle East, and northern Africa to bring back data.

"This way, I can continue learning until the master returns."

Cortana wasn't stupid; she understood her master's intention to remain discreet.

She therefore placed a self-destruct mechanism powerful enough to completely destroy the drone without leaving a trace.

It didn't take long for her drone to reach the Greek side, but the spectacle before the AI's eyes was horrible.

Death.

Atrocities.

Violence.

Carnage.

The list of horrors is long, but the AI showed nothing on her holographic face.

Yet, she analyzes the data recovered by observing the environment and tries to understand the reason for this situation.

Finally, a drone perceived a small boy holding the body of an old man.

He was in tears, covered in blood, and muttering in a language unknown to Cortana's data, but this wasn't a problem for long.

After a long analysis, the AI was finally able to obtain a correct translation and understanding of the language.

"...M... monster." Despite the fear in his voice, the child tightened his grip on the dagger in his right hand and clutched the old man's corpse more firmly.

[alert!!]

[alert!!]

[energy activity similar to and different from the master detected]

[launching analysis....]

"Negative, I am Cortana," the drone replied after scanning the surroundings and the child himself.

The gray-haired child, soiled by the blood of the old man in his arms, was surprised by the sudden response from the mechanical creature.

However, his initial opinion about its monster identity radically changed after Cortana's next gesture.

Holographic projection.

Cortana judged that it would be easier to communicate if the child observed a creature resembling his race.

So she projected an image of herself with Western-colored skin and no blue holographic hues in front of the child.

"...You are a goddess!! Sorry for my rudeness."

Cortana was slightly confused by the child's words and new error, but she attributed this to his young age.

She knew things about the Bronze Age in Greek cosmology thanks to Sanguinius, but again, her master could be wrong.

Especially, he never mentioned how much time had elapsed between the Silver Age and the Bronze Age.

He also never explored the current human world, as his last exploration was light and dates back to the pre-flood era.

It could also be that this child before her is an abnormal human from the Bronze Age because of this strange energy emitted by him.

Thus, Cortana was considering several possibilities in this situation.

"No... I am not a goddess, but my creator fulfills many criteria qualifying him for a divine title."

Despite her speech, she didn't stop approaching the child.

He had already lowered his guard because of Cortana's unreal beauty and mystical aura, from the perspective of a native from an era when gods walked among men.

"I see, you are the new humanity mentioned by those people," he said in a somber tone, not hiding his hatred.

His scarlet eyes glowed slightly with an intimidating light.

'Despite his young age, he can show such a face?' thought the AI.

'According to master, children must be loved and protected.'

This logic pushed Cortana to use the first rule to meet the child in a critical situation, despite her master's intention to remain hidden.

Sanguinius had not explicitly ordered her to stay hidden; this is a loophole exploited here by the AI to learn directly from the native.

Yet, the expression of hatred on the child's face surprised her, and it gave her an idea of the current era.

'The master was right and wrong... this is the end of the Bronze Age, and soon the era of heroes.'

All these reflections were extremely quick. To the child, Cortana merely blinked.

"A new humanity? That can indeed define me, but I am not a human either... Do you need help?" she explained slightly, before changing the subject.

The child relaxed after understanding that the beautiful woman was not one of the "new humans."

'He is not one of them.'

Contrary to the information disclosed by the Greek gods in the future, the humans of the Bronze Age were not all combat-crazed savages.

They were just too similar to their ancestors from the Silver Age, who still possessed vestiges of the glory of the Golden Age.

During their creation, Zeus wanted to imitate the humans created by his father.

Unfortunately, these were a failure for several reasons, related to world laws disrupted by the Flood, and also to the limited power of Olympus.

Unlike Chronos's reign at the beginning, Zeus did not benefit from Gaia's support during his reign because of a certain incident related to his first wife.... *Cough*literally devoured.

This did not allow him to create humans of better quality than those of his father; they even proved inferior to the already deteriorated ones from the Silver Age.

Because of this pathetic result, he came to feel a certain shame and animosity toward them.

This led him to neglect his divine duties toward this race he had himself created.

On their side, the humans of the Bronze Age began to learn to live without the support of their patron god.

All this led to a chaotic era.

Thus, they had not centralized faith in their way of life, like their ancestors from the Silver Age.

An unforgivable fault for Zeus, who is technically the one at fault in this situation.

All this led to a war between this human race and the new one, which would become the humans of the era of heroes.

Of course, future generations would know them as barbarians who self-destructed before the age of heroes.

Cortana had not yet confirmed this possibility or assumption, but she found it viable based on the knowledge provided by her master and the child's words.

She looked at the elderly man that the child was desperately clutching, as well as the destroyed village around them.

The child hesitated to accept the mechanical creature's proposal but eventually nodded slowly.

"This will take time... we should get to know each other officially, right?"

"My name is Cortana. My master says I am an artificial intelligence," she said in a gentle tone to reassure the child.

"...I... I'm called Thrax."