-2137- Not gonna be easy

At that moment, silence once again descended upon everyone.

"Yaya…"

"Yaya-onee-san…"

Irori and Komurasaki both looked at Yaya with worried eyes.

"I…"

Yaya's lips trembled, unable to utter a single word. Her face had gone completely pale.

There was no helping it.

What Rozen had said had struck Yaya hard—it was undoubtedly a major shock.

But everything Rozen said was the truth.

"If the Machine Doll truly is the 'Flawless Jewel' as Father Time foresaw, then the first Machine Doll ever created would be a perfect existence—literally incapable of being harmed."

Rozen calmly spoke.

"And among this generation's Night Party, you are probably the closest to meeting that condition."

Indeed.

To be able to contain the terrifying mana of a million people within her body without sustaining any damage—one can only imagine the endurance of such a automaton.

Keep in mind, this is not mana that can be casually stored. It's akin to cramming the energy of a volcano—or even a sun—into a single body. How could that be possible?

In the past, Rozen himself had suffered a frail body due to overly excellent magic circuits that generated too much mana, draining his vitality. He had only resolved the issue thanks to the divine-level support of the Mind's Eye.

Without touching the domain of the gods, there was simply no solution. Rozen's current ability to wield mana on a planetary scale and beyond was only possible thanks to the elevation of his life form brought on by Foreign Mana. Furthermore, his magic circuits were constructed using the universal truth-level principle of Infinite Chain Reaction, which finally allowed him to achieve this miraculous transformation.

Otherwise, Rozen would likely still be struggling with his mana issues.

And even then, his former mana levels—while excellent—only matched a few dozen people at most, not even a hundred.

Mana equivalent to that of a million people—aside from Primogenitors or Servants, Rozen had never seen anyone who could possess such levels.

Even Stella, considered a genius of unmatched mana in her own world, only slightly surpassed Rozen's regular state at the time. Other individuals with extraordinary mana were, in Rozen's memory, practically all non-human.

Especially the Primogenitors. Though they possessed immense mana, it was accumulated over countless years, built upon a vast storage of time. If they had been ordinary humans, it would have been impossible.

Yet, a Machine Doll must accomplish that very feat.

Humans must craft with their own hands a automaton capable of containing a million people's worth of mana.

Otherwise, the completion of the Machine Doll would remain a distant dream.

Fortunately, the world holds countless automatons and numerous genius puppeteers. An automaton built by harnessing the combined techniques of such experts may possibly fulfill that requirement.

For example, Germany's proud Fragarach can manipulate molecular movement. If it were pushed further to control atomic vibration completely, it could create a body in which not even a single atom is damaged—thus creating an unharmable automaton that fulfills the condition. But unfortunately, they were still one step short and were eliminated from the Night Party.

Then there's Sonetchka's Jormungandr. Though its internal magic circuits remain unknown, even when destroyed by the Gram, it could fully regenerate. It might be capable of containing Androgyne's mana without damage and could be considered as satisfying the condition.

Next, the Gram of the Belew family also qualifies.

Because it is a universal truth-level secret technique.

If Infinite Chain Reaction is a truth that creates something from nothing—ultimately capable of infinitely generating mana—then the Gram is a technique that converts something into nothing, erasing existing mana, or rather life force, to silently annihilate everything.

Of course, both are only theoretical. Infinite Chain Reaction has so far only enhanced mana output via Multi-Controller, and has not yet reached true infinite mana generation. Likewise, the Gram has entities it cannot erase—such as elementals who guide and control extinction elements.

Rozen's magic circuits have indeed achieved the principle of infinite mana generation, but that was only possible due to the ascension brought by Foreign Mana.

And as for the Gram, if it could achieve full capability, it too could eliminate the burden of overwhelming mana and become a vessel for Androgyne.

However, Sigmund clearly hasn't reached that level yet—he's still lacking if he wants to become Androgyne's vessel.

Aside from that, the six girl automatons in Magnus's squad might barely meet some conditions, but they're still a little short.

In contrast, Yaya—with her Kongouriki ability that allows her to manipulate any monads within her personal domain and completely block all harm—under Rozen's hands is a machina girl that is literally unharmable.

Undoubtedly, she is the most suitable candidate in the Night Party to carry Androgyne and transform into a Machine Doll.

If Androgyne truly merges into Yaya's body, and Yaya can fully exert her Kongouriki to regulate, suppress, compress, and convert the mana of a million people, she will absolutely be able to contain this astronomical power.

Rozen claiming Yaya to be the first candidate for the Machine Doll is no exaggeration.

It may even be part of why Edward Rutherford values Rozen so highly and has been keeping an eye on him all along.

"That cunning old fox might very well be planning to make you the hardware for the Machine Doll, to merge Androgyne with you."

Rozen sneered coldly.

But Yaya was not feeling so well.

"To… to fuse with that kind of monster…?"

Yaya's body was already trembling and unsteady.

That was something she simply couldn't accept.

How could she?

Not just the fusion itself—if she were to truly become the vessel of Androgyne to complete the Machine Doll, would she still be Yaya?

Of course not.

The life and self-awareness of an automaton comes from the Eve's Heart magic circuit, and in the Machine Doll, this corresponds to the yet-incomplete Androgyne.

This artificial soul core, formed from the collective of countless manufactured souls centered on the Keystone, will inevitably become the self-awareness of the Machine Doll.

If it enters another automaton's body, it would essentially mean taking over that body.

At that point, Yaya would be an anomaly in the Machine Doll—and the first to be rejected. The result would be that only Yaya's body becomes the Machine Doll, while her soul is erased.

In other words, Yaya would die.

That thought sent Yaya's mind into a blank daze.

Until…

"What are you thinking about?"

With those words, Yaya was suddenly pulled into a warm embrace.

She trembled all over and lifted her head, looking in front of her.

There, Rozen was holding her in his arms, a smile on his face.

"If someone thinks they can take you away from me, it's not gonna be easy for them."

That simple sentence dispelled all fear in Yaya's heart.

"Rozen…"

Yaya looked into Rozen's eyes, and her gaze overflowed with affection.