“W-what!!”
By now the sixth subdivision was in a state of confusion.
The time was past nine in the evening. In a sense, it was the most relaxed time. It was the time when people on the night shift started, and the people on day shift went to rest.
Disorder filled the fort’s night.
“The guards at the side entrance were discovered unconscious.”
“The personnel on the perimeter haven’t returned.”
“The two underground guards have been confirmed to have fainted.”
The reports kept coming in one after another, but it was simply incomprehensible.
“Gaah, just what is going on! Make your reports more clearly!”
The head of the sixth subdivision, Intact Mazecilia d’Galvani yelled loudly, but despite that the situation didn’t change for the better.
“I-it’s a disaster!”
“What is it this time?”
“The p-prisoners are gone!”
“What? What are you on about?”
Without understanding what was going on at all, Intact began getting affected by the disorder.
“Branch head, please calm down. No matter how you think about it, there’s no other conclusion than that someone infiltrated us from the outside.”
The one who called out was the vice branch head Marcello. He was also a Magi Craftsman.
“Someone, you say? Who was this someone!”
Intact asked, but Marcello replied incomprehensibly.
“Yesterday, a pigeon came from the headquarters, right? Try to remember, please.”
“What? Don’t tell me you took the tale of that upstart Purcell seriously?”
“I told you, if you think about it there’s only one possibility.”
It was extremely close to the truth but Intact turned a deaf ear to him. As a last resort, Marcello was about to give his own orders when something happened.
There was a shock as if something had hit his face, and while he thought he saw something pass by his eyes simultaneously there was a dull sound and a hole appeared in the wall.
“Wha-what? What was that just now?”
He touched his face and it was bleeding.
And in the next moment, a hole appeared in the wall behind him accompanied with a dull sound.
He had no inkling of what was going on. Marcello was also an excellent Magi Craftsman in his own way, but having no knowledge of this phenomenon he was not able to make any guesses.
In the neighboring room a guard soldier began to panic as suddenly there was a hole in the wall, and something had brushed against his arm completely tearing off a piece of flesh from it.
Despite this, Marcello was able to think clearly.
“There was something written…That’s right, ‘there was a Magi Craftsman who told us to not get involved with him’, it said. Don’t tell me…”
“Branch head! A hole suddenly appeared in the wall, and two golems which were on standby were demolished!”
“Something got stuck in the wall facing the river!”
The reports came in.
“Go get that thing stuck in the wall, then bring it to me.”
He gave the order, turned towards the front of the fort, and looked outside through a small hole meant for observation.
“Hm? What’s that?”
There were several figures standing about a hundred meters away. They were far away and it was dark so he couldn’t make out their facial features.
“Judging from the direction of the holes those guys are behind this?”
After thinking about it a bit, he decided to bring out two combat golems. Of course, they were golems of the lowest grade just to wait and see what would happen.
“Go. If they’re the enemy then catch them and bring them here.”
＊ ＊ ＊
“Now then, there ought to have been some sort of a reaction by now, but.”
Ten minutes after the three railgun shots. In the darkness, Jin was watching the fort using the night vision mode on his helmet.
“Ah, Father, something’s coming.”
Reiko whose sight was even better than Jin’s with night vision engaged found two golems that had come out of the fort.
“They’re walking here. Golems, aren’t they. Their quality doesn’t seem to be very good.”
One could tell the quality of the golems by the way they walked. If their walking was clumsy then they were low-grade golems. However, crude force and such things couldn’t be measured with that.
After they had come about 20 meters closer Jin too could tell that they were golems. And their performance too.
“No way they’re friendly, huh.”
The two golems didn’t appear to have speech faculties, they kept silently walking closer as if trying to grab at Jin.
“What are you doing?”
Reiko swung the railgun in her hands once.
As it was made out of Adamantite its weight was approximately 50 kilograms, and the golems got crushed and rendered immobile after being hit by the railgun that weighed more than Reiko.
“How brittle…”
The exterior was bronze. Jin couldn’t understand at all why these golems had been sent out.
“Let’s try going a bit closer. Right, Ash, Elm, carry those golems as we go.”
“Yes, Chief.”
The SP, Ash and Elm, each took a golem apiece then moved while shouldering the unmoving golems. Land-50 and 51 were also with them.
In the dark of the night, Jin’s group got roughly 40 meters closer.
“Alright, aim at the walls of that fort and toss those golems. …Oh, that’s right, I guess I’ll ask the Lands this time. Land-50, Land-50, please.”
“Yes, master.”
Land-50 and 51 simultaneously lifted up the golems, aimed towards the upper part of the fort’s walls, then threw the golems at full strength.
Incidentally, the Army golems’ maximum output was, using current Reiko as the standard, about 20 percent of hers. That in itself was outrageous.
The golems thrown with such force smashed against the fort’s wall and appeared to have been crushed flat as they sunk halfway in.
＊ ＊ ＊
“W-wh-who are those people?”
While observing the outside, suddenly golems had come flying and were buried in the wall.
Seeing that, as you’d expect even Marcello was scared out of his wits. But he soon composed himself and began thinking.
“Hmm, that power, the golem with that fellow must be the strongest golem that took part in the golem party, right? In which case he should be Jin Nidou?”
The information about the golem party and the contents of yesterday’s message matched.
“It’s no longer the time to keep holding back, huh. …[Light Ball].”
Marcello created three [Light Ball]s and had them float in front of the fort. The darkness vanished and it became bright.
There, there were four golems that appeared to be the battle-type, and a person in wearing a strange helmet who appeared to be giving them orders.
And then boggling his mind, there was a person who by all appearances was just a little girl, holding a mysterious weapon longer than her own body.
“Hm, so those guys are the ones who attacked?”
Marcello turned towards the voice, and there was Intact having regained his bearings looking out from another observation window.
“It appears so. The low-grade golems were not a match for them.”
“Hmph, because no one but me can mobilize the advanced battle-golems, I see. I do not care or know who they are, but I’ll teach them a lesson.”
Intact then drew back for a moment, activated all of the battle-type golems and had them attack. However, as a secret weapon, he kept the strongest battle-type golem and the all-purpose golems in reserve.
Marcello watched and soon saw 15 battle-type golems come running to the front of the fort.
“An over twofold difference in war potential, huh. Well, this should settle it.”
＊ ＊ ＊
“Someone is be behind the opened observation window of the fort. They appear to be observing us.”
Reiko said, then [Light Ball]s rose up and illuminated the surroundings.
“So they finally noticed us, huh. In that case, next should be their full-power offensive, right? [Barrier].”
The defensive power of the reinforced clothing was great, but just in case Jin put up a [Barrier].
Before long, fifteen golems rushed out of the fort’s open front gate.