Daydream Believer Part 2

"I see... So the Steel Battalion is located in a storage hangar beneath the

castle?"

"That's right. I was unable to infiltrate, but the approximate number down

there is around a thousand."

"There's seriously that many...?" I was more than a little surprised by what

Tsubaki was telling me over the phone. Approximately a thousand? That was

incredible. Even Brunhild's Frame Gears only numbered around four-hundred.

Do they just have more raw materials to work with? Or does it take that much

less to produce one? Hell, maybe it's something different... Could they seriously

have a place that rivals the Workshop, though? I guess at this point their Steel

Battalion is too different from my Frame Gears, so I shouldn't compare.

If the materials were being transported to the castle, then it must have meant

that they were producing them inside the castle too. That meant if I took the

place out, it would render them unable to make any more.

I decided that destroying the place was the smartest move, if only to prevent

future complications.

"Ah, one other thing. There's an incredible barrier placed around the castle.

It's negating most any kind of magic in the vicinity."

"What a pain in the ass..." That meant I probably wouldn't be able to send any

of the Steel Battalion back to Brunhild. I'd need to hijack one and drive it out

myself.

I wondered about what kind of barrier it was, though.

There were various kinds of barriers, after all.

Magic Evasion Barriers prevented targeted spells.

Magic Jammer Barriers prevented invocation.

Magic Enchant Barriers ended up bestowing positive effects on people in the

vicinity.

Magic Protection Barriers just straight-up blocked entry to certain locations.

And finally, Magic Seal Barriers prevented people from leaving.

I only knew about these five in particular. There were definitely a lot of

others. The talismans and other stuff people could carry on their persons fell

under the Evasion category, while the barrier around our very world that

prevented the Phrase from coming in would be closer to a Protection type.

Such barriers differed in strength, and it took a lot of time, effort, and magic

to produce a powerful one.

The fastest way to take out a barrier would be to destroy the artifact or

inscription holding it in place, but these things would often have their own

barriers around them as well. It was typically impossible to find these things

through my search magic, too.

Really the easiest solution here would be to obliterate the entire city... But

obviously I couldn't do that. I'd end up losing the Steel Battalion, and I needed

samples.

Either way, I decided to join up with Tsubaki.

I just had to deal with Sonia and her friends first...

"If you're sneaking in, can't you take us with you? We can't possibly excuse

ourselves from a mission if it'll get us closer to that scumbag."

"Please take us with you!" Sonia and Jesty bowed their heads toward me in

reverence. I sighed. Well, fine... Taking them isn't a big deal, I guess.

"Is it gonna be alright for you guys to come to the capital? Didn't you get

identified already?"

"They already know us, yes. We ended up giving our names when we entered

the city with Jesty."

"Either way, it's a revenge mission for my father's honor... I have to do this."

"Guh..." That definitely meant that they'd be known at this point. Plus, Jesty

had been walking around with a dragongirl and an extremely bald guy. They

were the definition of standing out like a sore thumb.

"Fine, then. I'll change how you look with illusion magic." It'd just get undone

the moment we got into the castle, anyway.

It was probably a Jammer barrier, after all. One that prevented the invocation

of magic. It also had the added bonus of wiping out passive effects, magic

disguises included.

Still, we only needed it to get them through the town.

I used [Mirage] to give all three of them the appearance of Yulong peasants,

and we headed through a portal back to the bamboo grove.

There were a lot of soldiers hanging out in the area where I'd arranged to

meet Tsubaki. The spell held up, and none of them recognized the trio I was

with. That was good, except... I was questioned repeatedly due to my mask... It

wasn't fair at all.

◇ ◇ ◇

Night fell, and the surrounding streets were shrouded in darkness.

We didn't want to be spotted, so we headed toward the castle down a

deserted road. Up close, the sheer height of the walls was a lot more

impressive.

"How're we gonna sneak in, then..." Once we got close to the walls, I cast a

cautious and experimental [Light Orb]. It manifested for a split-second before

flittering out. That meant we were in range of the barrier already.

"We won't be able to use magic from here."

"They've amped up the guard at the front gate, too." Rengetsu, Sonia, and

Jesty had all lost their magic disguises, as well.

Losing magic was a pain. We could've just used [Invisible] to sneak through,

but that wasn't really viable.

"Hm... Well, this is annoying. Should we just charge them head-on?"

"What?!" We had firearms, and the enemy couldn't use magic either. The had

bows and arrows, but they could be dodged. If it was just me on my own, I'd

have wanted to just rush them.

"W-W-Wait a second! If we're too reckless in our approach, then our target

might run off! We want to avoid that..." Jesty flailed his arms as he spoke. He

certainly raised a fair point. I'd completely forgotten about that. I still thought

I'd be able to take hold of the whole castle even without magic, but I didn't

want to discourage my allies. Hm... In that case...

Kohaku's ears suddenly twitched, and she stared into the blackness.

"My liege. Someone's coming this way. It's likely a guard patrol."

"Damn it! Guys, scatter! Hide in the nearby bushes." Everyone quickly obeyed

my command.

I strained my eyes to see who was coming by. It was just a couple of guards.

They completely failed to notice us.

Once they were far enough for it to be safe, we came out of the bushes and

began brainstorming our infiltration again.

We definitely couldn't jump over it. It was about ten meters tall. Though,

even without magic, my body was more than capable of leaping about six

meters into the air.

"My lord... I can jump over with little trouble."

"Even with me on your back?"

"It won't be a problem."

Hm... Guess we should, then. We're just sitting around like idiots right now.

Kohaku suddenly reverted to her true form, which absolutely terrified the

people we were with. I ignored their shock.

I tried opening up [Storage] to get some rope, but it closed in just a few

seconds. The barrier even blocks this, huh...? I moved away from the castle walls

to open it up, and I pulled out a long rope.

I won't be able to use magic in there, so I should probably get what I'll need in

advance.

I made the necessary preparations and then headed back toward the others. I

handed one end of the rope over to Tsubaki, then climbed on to Kohaku's back.

Kohaku crouched and then pounced in a flash. She easily cleared the ten

meter wall, landing atop it with a surprising grace. Heavenly Beasts sure were

impressive...

Nobody was in the area when we landed, thankfully. There were little shrubs

and plants here and there, it seemed we'd landed in a little garden area. I tied

the rope to a nearby tree and then yanked on it, sending the signal to Tsubaki.

I looked around and prepped Brunhild on my waist.

Oh, right... I need to test this...

"Blade Mode." Brunhild's blade expanded a bit. Hm... So it still works, just

only a little?

"Blade Mode."

"Blade Mode."

"Blade Mode."

"Blade Mode." I repeated the command several times, and eventually the

blade inched its way to full size. It seemed like I could still use magic, but only

for a total of a few seconds. One second of [Slip] was still beneficial. A quick use

of [Boost] or [Accel] would help too. [Apport] would probably work as well,

since it was instant. Brunhild's Reload command was instant too, so I didn't

need to worry about that.

[Fireball] would probably only work at point-blank range, but I didn't want to

put myself in a situation where I'd get caught in the blast too.

I couldn't use my smartphone's target lock in this situation, either. It relied on

me using [Multiple] for more than a few seconds. [Paralysis] probably wouldn't

be much help, either. I'd need to directly touch people for it to take hold.

After thinking about it, I probably could've used [Teleport] to get through the

wall since it would've only taken a split-second. I briefly tried to use it... But I

ended up coming out in the wrong place. It was too dangerous to use in a place

like this, after all.

As I was testing my magic, Sonia came up over the wall. Sonia and Rengetsu

were pretty skilled at moving themselves, but Jesty seemed to have a little

more difficulty pulling himself up.

Once everyone was up, I took the rope and hooked it on a jutting-out part of

the wall, then cast it down to the other side.

We all climbed down to the inner wall, and then Tsubaki retrieved the rope

for me. We quickly hid in a nearby shrub. Alright... We won't need the rope on

the way out since I'll be hijacking one of the Steel Battalion, but...

I had no idea if I'd actually be able to pilot one. I could use Frame Gears no

problem, and they were knock-off Frame Gears... But I still couldn't be certain if

that'd be enough. "Firstly we need to take out this barrier."

"My lord. Patrolling soldiers inbound." Kohaku, who had returned to her tiny

form, caught my attention.

We'd landed in the castle's rear yard. I peeked out from behind a bush and

saw two soldiers on patrol. They were holding torches.

"Alright, let's get info on the castle from these guys."

"What should we do? Want me to strike them down?"

"No, hold off. I'll paralyze one of them and interrogate the other." I denied

Rengetsu's offer and took a step forward. I very quickly used [Accel] for the

briefest of moments I could, and timed it perfectly to dash out and intercept

the duo. [Accel] only let me burst out for a few seconds, but it was more than

enough time to get behind the two of them.

I placed my hand on the back of one of them and promptly pulsed him with

[Paralyze]. Then I held Brunhild's blade to the throat of the second guard.

"Not a move."

"Eeep!" Guess he thinks I killed the guy... He's being surprisingly obedient.

Sonia and the others followed after me, promptly putting out the fallen

guard's torch.

"How do I disable the barrier around this castle?"

"I-I don't know, I promise... Master Gad erected the barrier, but I know

nothing more than that!"

"Gad? Who's that?"

"Th-The heavenly emperor's attendant! He and Master Sol often work closely

together..." I had the guardsman tell me more, and learned that Gad was a

mage. Sol was a swordsman, and he was the one who had injured Rengetsu.

They seemed to be a duo and were rarely seen apart.

This Gad fellow had been the one to put the barrier up. That probably meant

that Gad and Sol were members of the Golden Order.

The guard didn't know all the details, but apparently some magical artifact

was responsible for the barrier.

We'd gotten everything we could out of him, so I used [Paralyze] on him, too.

Rengetsu dragged them off into the undergrowth and hid them behind a tree.

Guess we'll capture the mage guy and have him take out the barrier... That'll

be useful to us, since he's an attendant to the fake emperor. Plus, we need to

help Jesty get his revenge. We can hold off on the Steel Battalion theft until after

that.

So for now we just need to find the heavenly emperor. It'll probably be easier

to find him if I just keep interrogating soldiers.

"Alright, let's go!" Thus, our infiltration began.

◇ ◇ ◇

"Well, this could've gone better..." I sighed quietly as I knocked down a few

more soldiers.

Our stealthy mission hadn't exactly gone to plan. We were in the middle of a

pretty big battle, as a result.

Even Tsubaki, our infiltration expert, couldn't have helped us. There were four

of us holding her back, after all.

We were charging through the castle, fighting hordes of soldiers in narrow

hallways. They didn't have any mages to hurl ranged spells at us, which was a

relief, but there were still archers supporting the swordsmen. The combination

of Kohaku's roaring shockwave and my bullets took out most of the backliners,

though. Sonia and Rengetsu then took out the guys closer to us.

We went on and on and on and on, fighting them repeatedly... The repetition

kind of reminded me of an old song my grandpa would sing. Not too much,

though.

"Is the heavenly emperor's court around here?"

"It is, but we haven't got much time. We've been discovered, so he could flee

at any time..."

"Yeah, we can't let him get away." Tsubaki was right, we couldn't afford to

waste any more time. If we floundered here, Jesty and the others wouldn't be

able to get their revenge. I decided that the best course of action would be an

explosive one!

"Kohaku! Blast all these jackasses away!"

"As you wish!" Kohaku fired a massive shockwave from her mouth. Every

enemy hit by the sudden blast fell unconscious where they stood.

"Alright! Let's head straight for where that bastard is!" We ran past the fallen

soldiers and pressed on until we found a grand hallway with a big red carpet. It

was lined with expensive looking vases along the walls. Frankly they looked

tacky as hell.

We headed toward the end of the hall and reached a massive door with a

dragon carved into it. Naturally we kicked it down.

The room we charged into had a very high ceiling, and contained nothing

other than a gaudy throne.

He looked about thirty years old and had a beard. The man wore gaudy, baggy

yellow robes. They looked hard to move in. There was a sheathed blade sitting

at his waist, and he wore a funny hat that resembled the one Chinese Emperor

Zheng, the king of Qin, wore.

Two men stood on either side of him, and it didn't take a genius to figure out

who they were.

One of the men looked to be over thirty himself, and he wore dark red armor

with a matching helmet. His left hand bore a heavy shield, and his right hand

held an unusual weapon that somewhat resembled a hatchet. It was just as

large as his massive shield.

The other man wore a black robe and carried a staff. It was crooked at the

end in a way that made it look a bit like a question mark. Judging from the

getup, he had to be the mage. He looked a tad younger than his partner. His

eyes were blue, and his hair was blond. He seemed frail, appearing tall and thin.

His eyes, however, reflected malice and cruelty.

Both of them wore pendants around their necks. The symbol of a heptagon

within a circle. Proof that they were members of the Golden Order. That meant

they were definitely the Sol and Gad that I'd heard about earlier.

Going from what I'd been told, the armored man was Sol, while the gaunt

mage was Gad.

"My my... You haven't learned your lesson at all. Do you crave my seal that

badly?" The throne-seated man, Fake Emperor Xiaofah, tossed a golden cube

up and down in his hand. It had what looked like a dragon sculpted into the

side.

That must be the Heavenly Seal... Looks bigger than I expected. Geez, it's

around the size of an apple.

"Shut it! I don't need your words, all I need is your blood! You'll pay for what

you did to my father, cretin!" Jesty promptly drew the sword at his waist.

Rengetsu and Sonia stood ready to back him up.

I shrugged slightly, and then a gunshot rang out through the room.

"Wh...!" I fired a single clean shot at the Heavenly Seal, causing it to explode

into little fragments. The fake emperor simply stared at his own hand in

disbelief.

What an idiot he was. I could've easily shot him too, but that wasn't my job.

"Y-You little rat! What have you done?! That's Yulong's treasure, the Heavenly

Seal! It's my seven-thousand year heritage!"

"I don't give a shit. Who cares about Yulong or its heritage? Plus you're full of

it. Yulong didn't even exist that long ago." If you asked me, there weren't any

true heirs left. Trash like the heritage of a pathetic, broken country didn't need

to exist in this world anymore. I honestly couldn't give less of a crap about their

pathetic excuse for a culture.

Honestly, this country has been nothing but a pain to me. I think I'll just come

in as the Silver Oni and conquer the whole place, then divide the territory

between Hannock, Felsen, and Xenoahs.

The soldier, Sol, suddenly pointed his weapon toward me.

I fired several bullets in his direction, but his massive shield took the brunt.

And after that, he charged toward me.

"Graaaaaah!!!" He swung down his unusual weapon at me... But it was no

good, I deftly dodged every cumbersome strike. I then pulled my trigger pointblank at the lumbering oaf's head. Ping! Ping! The shots ricocheted off his

helmet. It was surprisingly tough. My bullets didn't penetrate the armor or

harm him.

"Kohaku!"

"Aye!" Kohaku launched a shockwave which knocked Sol to the ground. He

rolled around the ground, and I used the time to reload and stock some

Explosive Bullets. Those bullets invoked an explosive spell on impact. Their

damage would be dampened somewhat by the barrier in the area, but I was

sure they'd still do some serious damage.

"Gwuh!" I fired another shot toward Sol's head.

"Come forth, o Light! Shining Duet: [Light Arrow]!" I suddenly heard

someone chanting an incantation, so I leaped to the side.

Several arrows of light blasted through the location I'd just been standing at.

That was a close one!

I turned my head to see Gad pointing his staff toward me. You sneaky

bastard!

"...Wait, how'd you cast a spell to begin with?"

"I created this barrier, you impertinent whelp. Do you think I wouldn't install

insurance?"

What, seriously?! You can make it so you aren't affected by the barrier? You

cowardly asshole! But... well, I guess I can't blame you for setting up the field to

your advantage.

"I guess I'm not all that surprised. The Golden Order has some capable mages

among its ranks, huh?"

"Wha—?! You little... Who sent you?!" Gad and Sol looked alarmed when I

name-dropped their organization.

"A dog from Felsen, are you?!"

"Hm... Who can say? Tell you what. How about you take that barrier down?

I'll show you guys an interesting spell."

"Unfortunately for you, that can't be arranged. Unless my magic is drained, or

the artifact is destroyed, it can't be deactivated." Gad grinned broadly in my

direction. He told me exactly what I needed to know.

"Then all I have to do is destroy the artifact, right? This is a pretty damned big

barrier, you know. I doubt it's easy to hide, so all I have to do is find it and take

it out!"

"Worry about your paltry life before that, vermin! Chill to the bone, o

Darkness! I Seek Obedient Bones: [Skeleton Warrior]!" A magic circle appeared

on the floor, and a bunch of rattling skeletal warriors rose out of it. They started

shambling toward me with their old, worn-out weapons.

Oh god damn it. Skeleton Warriors are undead monsters... They're undead!

They're not very strong, but they'll get up after they're defeated. If I want to put

them down for good, I need light magic, or a weapon with light infused into it.

The big issue here was that magic had been sealed for everyone except Gad,

so we couldn't generate the light we needed. Well, it's not like it'd be

impossible, but I'd need to get into close-range with them to do it.

"...You really are an asshole, you know that?"

"For the sake of the Golden Order, you must die." I shot a bullet from

Brunhild toward one of the skeletons near me. It fell down to the ground with a

clatter, but I knew it'd be up again in under a minute.

Tsubaki, Sonia, and Rengetsu easily took out some of the enemies on their

own, and even Jesty had managed to take one out. But we couldn't keep

fighting an endless tide. Sol was attacking us alongside the skeletons, too. The

situation was grim.

Damn it... I guess I don't really have a choice here. I'll try it out...

I let some of my own divinity flow through my palm, and I allowed it to soak

into Brunhild. I lined up a shot at the head of a Skeleton Warrior, and... It

crumbled into dust the moment it was hit by a divine bullet.

"What?!" I ignored his screams of surprise and continued to reduce the

skeletons to dust. Divinity was beyond mere magic, after all. I was fairly sure

that the divinity inside me was the reason I could use all of the elements, as

well.

In a sense, a blast of divinity probably contained all the elements of magic in

one place. The barrier also did nothing to stop my divinity. Only a god could

hinder the power of another god.

I finished mopping up all the mooks and then turned my attention to the

throne. I charged over and held Brunhild's blade to Xiaofah's neck.

"Eek!"

"Drop your weapons, or I'll drop his head." I leveled my threat toward Sol and

Gad. Doesn't really matter in the end, though. I'm gonna give this guy to Jesty,

and then he can do what he wants. I need these two alive though, so I can

interrogate them about the Golden Order.

Gad suddenly adjusted his posture and pointed his staff toward me.

"Come forth, Fire! Purgatorial Sphere of Flames: [Fireball]!" A massive

fireball suddenly came hurtling toward both Xiaofah and me.

W-Wait a second, hey!

"Eeep!"

"Oh come on!" I shot a bullet toward the fireball, splitting it clean in two with

divinity.

The two halves of the flaming projectile landed behind me and exploded.

"Did... Did you seriously just try to kill the two of us?"

"We have no use for him anymore. We were going to get rid of him soon,

either way. All you did was bump up the schedule!"

"Wh-What?! You dare betray me?!" The fake emperor screeched at Sol and

Gad.

"A betrayal? Don't be foolish. Who ever said you were our ally? We gave you

the Steel Battalion, and you gave us manpower. We are thankful that you so

thoroughly field tested the units for us, but that's where our relationship ends.

The Golden Order will handle matters from here, and you're no longer needed."

"What are you going to do next?!"

"We'll use the Steel Battalion to conquer Felsen, of course." I stared at them

in disbelief. I thought they intended to invade Hannock, not Felsen.

Wait, wait... Felsen? Don't they know how strong the magic military is over

there? There'll be massive losses on both sides! Unless they're seriously saying

that they're prepared for that...

"Are you trying to avenge the old Golden Order? Get vengeance for Garland's

death? That's fruitless!"

"I care not for avenging my father. I simply wish to create a world where the

Golden Order reigns at the apex. A new world. A magical world. Where we

mages stand elite. I wish to create the Magia Imperium."

"Wait, father?! You're the old leader's son?!"

"That I am. Leader of the Neo Golden Order. Son of Garland Goldie. I am

Galzeld Goldie." Gad, or... Galzeld, introduced himself in a flashy manner and

smacked his staff against the ground. This guy was the leader. I had never

expected to meet him here.

"I will succeed where my father failed! I will cast the forbidden spell

[Sanctuary], and when I do... This world will be purged of all non-magic users!

This world will be pure at last!" What...? [Sanctuary], is it? Is that the spell his

dad was trying to cast? I guess he's saying it'll wipe out people who can't use

magic, but not everything adds up here...

Why Felsen? Why invade them? Is there an artifact there that they need or

something?

"There's still a lot I don't really get, but that doesn't matter. If you're the

leader of the Golden Order, then I can't let you get away."

"Oh, really now?" Galzeld stared me down. There was no fear in his eyes. As

he laughed, the wall behind him and Sol broke. A large mechanical hand burst

through into the room.

A short and headless machine appeared amongst the wrecked wall. It wielded

a conical lance in its hand. It's one of the Steel Battalion! It bounded into the

room with incredible force and thrust its weapon toward the throne.

"Guh!"

"Eeekeeeh!" The fake emperor and I darted out of the way just in time. His

beautiful throne was completely trashed. No manner of gaudiness could save it

from looking like the trash it was now.

Damn, this thing's actually pretty strong. If the old model Chevaliers are

around a ten, then this thing's definitely an eight.

"Uwaaah!" The fake emperor ran away down the hallway at top speed. He

was a former thief, so I wasn't too surprised. It seemed like his biggest talent

was running. I couldn't afford to let him go, though.

"Tsk... Jesty! You guys! Go after him!"

"G-Got it!" Jesty, Rengetsu, and Sonia all ran after the faker.

The only people left here on my side were Kohaku and Tsubaki.

"You really think you can attack the Steel Battalion on your own? How

arrogant..." A loud voice came out of the machine. It sounded crackly, like it

was being transmitted through a cheap speaker. It was the voice of the pilot

inside.

There was a lot of stuff falling over, so the voice was a little difficult to make

out, but... I knew who it belonged to.

"...I see. So you ran off and joined these guys, huh? Is that right, Bowman?"

"Wh— Buh... H-How?! How do you know who I am?!"

I knew it. What an idiot... This guy is none other than Roadmare's former

magitech expert, Edgar Bowman.

He was the guy that caused that disaster with the rampaging Golems. He was

stripped of his position and sent to the mines as a convicted criminal. He

obviously had no idea who I was, since I was still in my Silver Oni disguise.

I'd been informed that he'd escaped due to outside interference, but it all fell

into place now. He'd been jailbroken by the Golden Order.

"I see, I see... So your Golden Order buddies made this with you, huh? This

piece of junk."

"Junk?! What did you say?! This is one of my incredible Steel Battalions! They

are my masterpieces who will conquer the entirety of Yulong! You've seen what

they've done, haven't you?!"

"Don't go getting high and mighty over something you reverse engineered

based on stolen tech. Compared to the Brunhild Frame Gears, these things are

garbage."

"You little wretch!" He thrust his lance toward me. But his movements were

way too telegraphed.

I dodged it, over and over, while taking note of how it attacked.

The function behind moving it seemed different to a Frame Gear's. The Frame

Gear scanned your brain and read your motions, so it was like an extension of

your own body. It worked in tandem with its pilot.

The machine before me felt like it had been programmed with movement

patterns. It kind of moved like fighting game characters did after inputting

certain commands.

I didn't exactly mean it seemed as simplistic as 'press A to punch and press B

to kick,' but it definitely felt similar to that kind of control system. The controls

might have been functional, but it probably meant they couldn't adapt all that

well to diverse situations. The one inputting the commands was human, after

all.

It could've been influenced by the barrier, though. Frame Gears had magic

flowing through them and that helped their movements. But I didn't think that

any of the Steel Battalions could replicate such complex functions.

"These things really are crappy!"

"Silence!" I darted beneath one of its heavy arms and sliced it at the elbow

with my Divine Brunhild.

The arm, along with the lance it was wielding, crashed to the ground.

"What?!" I dived beneath the machine and sliced both knees in a similar

fashion. The mech fell off-balance and fell forward, crashing to the ground.

"No! Impossible, improbable, inconceivable! How could this happen?! How

could one of my beautiful creations be defeated?!"

"Wh— How could this be? Defeated by one man?!" Sol stared upward in

disbelief, so I quickly used [Accel] to dart toward him. The barrier made it last

almost no time at all, but it was enough time to close the distance.

"Guh!" He raised his shield, but that mattered not. I sliced right through it,

and it cut through to his arm.

"GWAAAUUUGH!"

"Enough already. Just shut up! [Paralysis]."

"Ghuh!" I touched him and his fate was sealed. His body slumped to the floor

in an instant.

There was a massive amount of blood spewing from the gash on his arm, so I

quickly sealed the wound with a brief burst of healing magic. I had questions for

him, after all.

"Got anything else up your sleeve?" I stared Galzeld down with fire in my

eyes. But he just responded with a gentle smile.

"Ahaha... You're strong. Incredibly strong... What a wonderful Oni. You can

use magic as well, it seems. How about it, would you like to join the Golden

Order? Once we create the Magia Imperium, and I stand tall as the Mage

Imperator, you could join me as my right-hand man."

"Right-hand man? Don't give me that. I was promised half the world once by a

jackass like you, and I declined that offer too."

Well, that dragon guy would've ended up getting eaten regardless of whether

or not I joined him.

"Oh? How unfortunate. You need to die, then."

"That Steel Battalion bot is busted. Your soldier friend is out cold. Do you

really think you're in a position to negotiate and talk big?"

"And just what do you think a battalion is, young man? It is many." Galzeld

grinned, and the very ground beneath me began to shake and rumble.

I looked through the ruined wall at the garden area, and I saw several magic

circles on the ground. An entire Steel Battalion of battle robots began to rise up

from them.

They looked the same as the one I'd defeated before. They held many

different weapons. Some had spears, some axes, some swords. Some even held

what appeared to be crossbows.

"Crap. That's right, there were a thousand or so in the basement... I forgot."

"Oho? You even knew that much? Well, let me tell you a little secret. There

aren't that many here anymore. We've already deployed more than a good

ninety percent of them toward the Felsen border. We've been improving them

steadily, as well. We already have enough to take on those Felsen fools."

Talk about prep work... I guess we should've acted sooner. If there are around

fifty here, then that means there should be around nine-hundred-and-fifty over

by the border... That's bad. I guess I should take these ones out before worrying

about them, though.

I wasn't worried at all, though. I had a good reason to be calm.

"...Hey, Galzeld. Don't you hear that sound?"

"...Excuse me?" I grinned at him, and he suddenly became a little more

uneasy. He perked up his ears in a desperate attempt to understand what I was

hinting at.

The sound of steel upon steel could be heard in the distance. The sound of

the rumbling earth was getting closer and closer. The sound of explosions, of

shaking. He ran outside to see what he'd heard.

"No...!" What he witnessed outside was simple. His Steel Battalion being

ripped apart. The perpetrators? A light purple samurai machine, and an orangegold knight machine.

It was Yae in her Schwertleite, and Hilde in her Siegrune.

"Impossible! Why are the Brunhild Frame Gears here...?!" Yae's Frame Gear

danced around the battlefield. It used its short sword to strike the Steel

Battalion at all angles, separating limbs from bodies in the blink of an eye.

Hilde's Frame Gear valiantly stomped around, blocking lances with its mighty

shield. It then violently rended its foes apart with heroic slashes.

I'd considered the possibility of the Steel Battalion being deployed, so I'd set

up a portal that only Frame Gears could pass through before the mission began.

I telepathically contacted Luli and Kougyoku to have Yae and Hilde prepare for

battle. The magic barrier didn't affect the telepathic link, after all.

The Steel Battalion went after Schwertleite and Siegrune, one after the other.

There were over twenty of them remaining. It wouldn't be impossible for them

to win if they swarmed with sheer numbers, and that was probably what the

pilots were hoping to achieve.

But the swordswomen from my household weren't the kind who would lose

to mere fakers, numbers be damned. The new Frame Gears weren't just for

show, after all.

The destroyed members of the Steel Battalion piled up one after the other.

"Ghh...!"

"I don't know what you were planning, but you should just give in here. How

about I take you straight to the king of Felsen?"

"Hah... Hahahah... You are a Felsen dog, then... But Felsen has no future, I

promise you this! They will yield to the Golden Order, they will yield to me!"

Galzeld yelled as he held his staff to the sky.

At that moment, his staff let out a tremendous burst of light, I brought my

arm up to shield my eyes.

When the light subsided, Galzeld was no longer there. I heard the sound of

small, beating wings, and I looked over toward it. There was a bat flying toward

the east.

Wait, is that him?! Did he use a transformation spell or something? Is that his

Null magic?! Regardless of how he'd done it, I couldn't let him get away. I

invoked [Fly] in order to give chase, but I flew about two meters before

crashing to the ground. That damned barrier was still active!

"Kohaku!"

"Understood!" Kohaku ran over, and I jumped on to her back. She sprinted for

the massive walls and leaped over them. I soared into the air with [Fly] once I

was out of range, but I couldn't find the bat at all.

"Search. Any bats nearby?"

"...Search complete. No bats within a five-kilometer range."

Damn it! No way can a bat fly that fast. Did he transform into something else?

Or did he just use another barrier to screw with my search spell?

Guess he got away... No, wait. I can still get him!

I used my smartphone and locked on to all trees in a five-kilometer radius

with [Multiple]. It took a while to calculate, the city had a good number of trees

in it.

But then I used my spell... [Absorb]. The trees, on command, began sucking

out all magic from their vicinity. All the magic around them was wiped away,

except mine of course.

"Search. Galzeld."

"Search complete. Three kilometers, southeast." The magic had been sucked

away, effectively undoing his disguise. I needed to hurry up and catch him. He'd

be able to regenerate his magic if he got away from the trees.

I ran through the city and dragged Kohaku along with [Teleport] to quickly

reach his position.

We came out in the forests on the city outskirts. I looked over to see a bird

suddenly turn into a man and fall to the ground. The process repeated itself a

few times. It was Galzeld, constantly trying to transform so he could escape.

After a while, he noticed Kohaku and I.

"D-Did you do this?!"

"Well, well. We meet again. Time to show you that spell I promised you.

[Slip]."

"What?!" I canceled [Absorb] and tripped him up. He fell down and lost his

staff, and promptly smacked the back of his head.

I loaded a special round into Brunhild and then pointed it at Galzeld's feet. It

was my ultimate Infinity Omega Slip Bonanza Bullet.

It constantly invoked a slipping spell, over and over again. It would draw from

my magic to constantly reapply the spell, trapping someone in a slippery hell

that never ended. Even if I wasn't nearby, a single bullet contained enough

power to keep someone falling for three days. So I guess calling it an Infinity

Omega Slip Bonanza Bullet wasn't quite right... Maybe Three-day Omega Slip

Bonanza Bullet worked better.

"Gwuh! Ughuh! Fhguh!!!"

Can't channel magic while you're falling all the time, can you? The beauty of

my slipping magic was that it responded to motion. So a person falling into it

would slip again, and then slip again forever. From the first fall, your fate would

be completely sealed.

I whistled merrily, ignoring Galzeld's pleas, and took a certain item out of my

[Storage].

The item was a large three-meter by three-meter cube with a glass-like

surface. Within this cube was the foul-smelling corpse of a particular species of

slime. That's right. It had been a long time, but the dreaded stinkbox was back.

I'd also added a few improvements since last time, as well.

I didn't want sealed people to use magic in there, so I enchanted the interior

with [Absorb]. That would prevent any kind of magic. Not that it was really a

place that facilitated magic very well.

"Punishment time..." I used [Gate] to trap Galzeld in the box.

"WH— BRUGHGAUUUH! IT STINKS?!" He held on to his nose and used his free

hand to bash against the walls of his confines. His face went from a shade of

red, to purple, to white. There was an enchantment that let you hear his voice

from the outside, too.

"Urgh... Blurgh... I-It reeks! Please!"

"Too bad. It's not over yet, you know? Try this on for size." I pushed a button

on the outside of the box, which triggered the internal speakers. The writhing

man within was suddenly assaulted by the combined sounds of nails on a

chalkboard and forks scraping on plates.

"HNNNNNNGH!!!"

"Oof!" Ow, damn it... I forgot to soundproof the box. I hit another button, and

the man's screams were silenced. Fortunately, his suffering continued

regardless of whether or not I could hear it.

"&*^%!!!" He tried to cover his ears so the sound wouldn't reach him, but

that only caused him to inhale the vile stink. When he cupped his nose, the

sound drove him wild again. He kept repeating the motion in a desperate

search for relief.

His face was covered in snot, drool, and tears. It was disgusting.

"My liege... Don't you think..."

"Look, Kohaku. This guy really pissed me off. Those barriers were a pain, you

know? This is just a little bit of fun, it's no big deal."

"I still think this is a bit much..."

I gave Kohaku a small glare and she backed off. Putting him in the box is good

for screwing with his sense of hearing and smell, but... I bet I can make it worse!

I cast [Mirage] to generate the sensation of vile creatures all over his body.

From his perspective there were cockroaches, worms, and larvae crawling over

and under his skin.

"^%*$%!!!"

Ha! He finally started hitting the wall again. It's made of phrasium, you idiot.

Not gonna break unless you have a crystal weapon in there, moron. Hope you're

having a good time, jackass!

Galzeld began sweating profusely, and his knees shook to the point of

buckling. He looked like a squirming, writhing newborn baby. I took a sadistic

glee in watching him cry.

Eventually he fell to the ground like a puppet with all its strings cut. His entire

body violently twitched, and foam spewed from his mouth. He was clearly

unconscious, but his eyes were wide open. Suddenly, I had a great idea.

"I just realized. If I use [Refresh] to keep him at peak health, I could keep him

in a perpetual state of suffering. That'd be hilarious."

"My liege... If you go any further, I'm afraid I won't be able to view you as a

human anymore." Alas, Kohaku's pleas stopped me from executing my plan.

That was kind of annoying.

◇ ◇ ◇

I left Galzeld with Kohaku, and headed back to the castle.

I couldn't put humans in [Storage], sadly. He smelled absolutely awful when I

pulled him out of the box, but I needed to leave him with Kohaku in case he had

any allies around.

By the time I got back, the battle was pretty much done. There were pieces of

the Steel Battalion all over the place.

Damn it... I wanted to take an undamaged one home... But that might not be

possible. Ah well, maybe Doctor Babylon can fix one up.

Soldiers and servants alike were streaming from the castle in droves. This was

a major incident, so it wasn't too surprising.

I headed back to the throne room and found Tsubaki tying up Sol and

Bowman. I figured I'd need to give Galzeld and Sol to Felsen, and Bowman to

Roadmare.

"Your Highness. Where's Galzeld?"

"Caught him. Kohaku has him." More importantly... Where the heck is Jesty? I

can't use my search magic because of the barrier... Guess I'll follow after where

the faker ran.

Eventually I found Jesty and the other two. They were looking down at the

bloodied corpse of the false emperor. It seemed like they'd achieved their goal.

Jesty had slashes all down his body, and he held a sword in his hand that

dripped crimson. It was obvious that neither Sonia nor Rengetsu had helped

him. If they had joined in the fight, there was no way Jesty would've sustained

wounds like that.

"Looks like you're done here."

"Quite... Thank you, I owe you a debt. The killer is gone now... I think my

father will be able to rest in peace now."

Is he crying...? His eyes look kinda red. But I guess he's finally killed the man

who took his beloved father away, so there's nothing worth questioning here.

"Let's leave, then. You can come to Brunhild if you don't have anywhere else."

"Thanks." Rengetsu answered. Jesty still seemed a little out of it. I brought the

three of them over to Tsubaki, and found that Yae and Hilde had exited their

Frame Gears.

"Hm...? These are the individuals from the Pruning, they are."

"Oh? That's right... They were Elze and Lucia's opponents, no?"

"Ah, I remember you..."

"Then it was you two in those Frame Gears?" The four of them vaguely

recognized each other, but they hadn't directly encountered one another

before. The most they knew about each other was their general appearance.

I properly introduced Yae, Hilde, and Sonia's group to each other. Sonia was

surprised to learn that they were both my fiancees, but they were even more

surprised to learn that I had seven other fiancees, including Elze and Lu.

Marriage revelations aside, I wondered what to do with the destroyed

machines.

It would've been a lot easier if I could've just mass transferred them with

[Gate].

I wondered just where the artifact maintaining the barrier was. Usually they

were tucked away in a corner somewhere, or right at the center of the barrier.

But there was nothing in particular in the corners of the throne room, and only

the trashed throne was in the middle.

I suddenly noticed two glimmering objects above me. Two golden dragon

heads on each corner of the roof. They faced each other and glimmered brightly

in the light. They kind of reminded me of the traditional Japanese fish

decorations used in some castles.

Wait a second... I drew Brunhild and blasted them to bits. I was operating

under the assumption that they were the things maintaining the barrier, so

they'd be useless to anyone that wasn't Galzeld.

Right after breaking them I attempted to use [Fly]. It went without a hitch. I'd

clearly broken the right things. If only I'd noticed sooner.

I opened up a massive [Gate] and moved all the Steel Battalion remains to the

hangar.

It'd be nice if this place was settled now that heavenly emperor bastard's

gone... But it probably won't be the case. Another one will just rise in his place.

This country really sucks. It's trapped in a vicious cycle.

That being said, I later learned that Xiaofah had already killed all the other

contenders for the throne. It was likely that Yulong as a nation was finished.

I figured that allying the remaining city states in the broken Yulong and

choosing a leader from those people might be wise, but it was likely that no

matter who was chosen they'd end up being crooked.

No, come on... That's prejudiced, Touya. You can't just write off an entire

people. There has to be at least one good person in Yulong... Even if you haven't

met anyone meeting that criterion...

I got involved in the situation this time because of the Steel Battalion, but I

really would've preferred it if they handled their own internal affairs.

From what I'd heard, there were cities close to Hannock in Yulong's territory

that wanted to defect to Hannock. It was possible that neighboring nations

would just naturally eat up the territory formerly known as Yulong.

The imperial family started fighting each other after the Phrase... All these

fake successors started popping up... It was honestly possible that there was

just nobody left who could claim leadership.

I checked the castle basement and, sure enough, there was a facility designed

to create the machines. It was evacuated though, which meant it was no longer

functional. I didn't want any trouble in the future, so I trashed it before leaving

the place for good.

The following day, I traveled to Roadmare with Bowman. He wasn't going to

be lucky enough to get sent to the mines this time. They unanimously decided

on the death penalty. A lot of Yulongese people died in his insane pursuit of

knock-off Frame Gears. He had to atone for his crimes. Doge Audrey thought

that she had to make an example of him.

After that, I brought the other two to Felsen. They were more than happy to

take Sol into custody. Galzeld, on the other hand... He smelled really bad. Like,

really bad. I kind of screwed up in that regard.

The situation was worsened when it turned out that Sol didn't know all that

much, and Galzeld was so mentally traumatized by the box treatment that he

couldn't even form a coherent sentence under duress.

His eyes were glazed over, and he drooled like an idiot. All he would do was

mutter and giggle. I... I definitely overdid it.

"Grand Duke... What... Wh-What did you do to him?"

"...I uh... I just made him smell some stuff, and hear some stuff. You know?

Like, a little revenge. It wasn't a big deal." The king of Felsen looked down at the

murmuring husk of what was once Galzeld Goldie. He pinched his nose and

glared in my general direction.

There was a barrier in the underground jail that negated magic, but it didn't

negate the godawful stink coming from the man.

We couldn't take it much longer, so we headed out to the courtyard. I took in

as much sweet, clean air as I could once I got out there.

"Man, that stuff really lingers..." I sniffed my clothing and felt like the stink

was actually sticking to me. I remembered reading about a deodorant spell in

the Library. I decided I definitely needed to memorize that one.

The king of Felsen took out a strong-smelling perfume and started liberally

applying it to himself. I borrowed it and put some on myself as well. Now the

two of us smelled like citrus and mint, which was definitely an upgrade.

I didn't expect this guy to carry around something like this... He probably had

it around so he could smell good for his fiancee.

"Ah yes, Grand Duke. Do you recall the Guildmaster from our Magical

Chamber of Commerce and Industry?"

"Hm? That guy with the sunglasses?" He was called Easeus, right? He's in

charge of the massive Felsen organization that manages all the craftwork,

mages, and trade in this country.

"He has three sub-masters that work beneath him, but one of those three

went missing this morning. We searched his home, and found a certain item."

The king of Felsen held up a circular pendant with a heptagon in the middle. It

was a clear mark of the Golden Order.

"Guess he freaked out when he learned Galzeld got caught."

"That's likely, yeah. He was part of an elaborate plan to murder me, in fact."

The raid on the sub-master's house revealed more details on an extensive game

plan. Galzeld would attack Felsen from the outside, while this man would

subvert Felsen from the inside.

"Shame I didn't get to make use of my Brave King..."

"...What kind of name is that...?" The king of Felsen gestured toward the

fancy sword around his waist.

Brave King, huh...? What a name for a sword. This guy has a really terrible

naming sense. I think he'd probably get along with Fashion King Zanac, though.

"Anyway, there's still the matter of that forbidden spell they were trying to

cast..."

"Oh, you mean [Sanctuary]. To be blunt, that's a domination spell."

"A what now?"

"Ludo told me all about it. It's a foul spell that twists the mind. The worst

thing about this particular spell is that it can affect many people at the same

time, and the affected parties won't even be aware that their free will has been

stripped away."

So, like brainwashing? That's certainly beyond mere subliminal messaging...

"If people were under the effects of the spell, then they'd readily accept

anything the caster wanted to be considered normal. Galzeld probably planned

on using this to create a nation where magic supremacy was not only accepted,

but celebrated." We didn't really know how to invoke it or anything. Sol was a

warrior for the most part. He had some magical aptitude, but he barely knew a

thing about the finer details. Galzeld wasn't in a position where he could

answer questions, either.

"Well, that's annoying... I guess I'll have to ask my resident expert."

"Excuse me?" These taboo, forbidden spells were created by the ancient

civilization. For matters like this, it was just more convenient to ask someone

who lived in it.

I took out my smartphone and started making a call to a certain contact. The

phone rang a couple of times and she finally picked up.

"'Sup, Doc."

"Ah, heyo. C'mon, don't call me that... Doc is so impersonal, you know? How

about you call me Regina? We are lovers, after all." Doctor Babylon picked up

the call and started casually yapping away.

Since when were we lovers? I don't recall accepting your love.

"Anyway, I have a question. Do you have some free time to answer, Doctor?"

"Hmmph. Are you really gonna be like that...? Fine, what is it?"

"Have you heard of a spell called [Sanctuary] at all?"

"Oh, that one? Uh... yeah, it's a pretty potent mind control spell. What about

it?"

"Do you know how to invoke it?"

"Sure do. A lot of sacrifices. Specifically, magically potent people need to be

sacrificed. They have to be the same race as the caster, too. The bigger the

range, the more sacrifices are needed. Although if the caster has a huge amount

of magic, that can offset the amount of people who need to die."

Sacrifices, geez. That sure sounds bloody. But I guess these spells are

forbidden for a reason.

"The effect wears off after you leave the spell's range, though. It wasn't

considered a popular or useful spell, especially since anyone with decent magic

power is resistant to it."

"Wait, seriously?"

"Pretty much. It was used in maximum security prisons at most, and even

then it wasn't all that great. Not every country used it, either. Partheno

certainly didn't."

Huh... I guess it'd be useful to prevent prison riots and stuff. But I wonder who

they sacrificed for it... Maybe death row inmates were sacrificed to maintain the

spell? Who knows.

"So what would it take to cast it on an entire country?"

"Don't make me laugh. Do you know how many people would have to die for

that to pay off? You'd basically need to kill the population of another country

just to maintain that kind of effect. Plus the people dying would have to come in

a steady stream. Humanity would have to go extinct for it to work out." Well,

that certainly lined up with what was said. I wondered if that's why they'd

declared war on Felsen. They could've used the casualties as fuel for the spell.

The elite soldiers of Felsen were famed for their magic potency, after all.

Even so, it seemed like the Golden Order had fundamentally misunderstood

the spell. If a person left the range, then it'd be undone. It'd be super

impractical to try to reign using it. Plus more sacrifices would be necessary.

Were they planning on fighting an eternal war? It was possible that they'd

learned about the spell from old writings or something, but misinterpreted or

simply missed information that would've clarified the important details.

"Alright. Thanks for the help."

"Sure, no problem. Oh, I have a request. I would like for you to show me more

of those Annie Mays we were watching the other day."

"Mm... Yeah, alright. Just don't go binging them all night again, alright?"

"Fine, fine. I got it. I promise!" I showed her the anime that originally inspired

me to create the Fragarach, but it probably ended up being a mistake. I'd shown

her a single show, but she was thirsty for more... She seemed to get a lot of

ideas while watching the shows. It made me wonder if she'd start making

legless Frame Gears or something at some point. Though, those robots were

more suited to space battles than anything else.

I told the king of Felsen about what the doc had told me. He was a little

surprised I had such a comprehensive source, but gradually began to nod along.

"I see... So they simply missed the information about the limitations and

passed down the knowledge of it being a more powerful spell than it was, hm?"

"Maybe, but I'm not so sure. After all, they could mentally condition people

with a command like 'leaving the sanctuary is dangerous.' It doesn't change the

fact that controlling the mind is messed up." Despite the limits of the spell, they

would've still been able to do it. The prison method used in the past was a little

frightening, honestly. Putting human rights issues aside, sacrificing the

condemned to placate the imprisoned... It was super messed up. It really did

deserve its status as a forbidden spell.

"Still, in the long-term, the spell wouldn't have helped Gordian create what

they longed for..."

"That's right." They really were a pathetic lot... They're the daydream

believers who hope for something better, and cling on to stuff they can't

achieve.

"It's still troubling that there are so many that followed their ideals, though.

According to Sol's testimony, Gordian's members number more than we

expected. There's also the remaining members of that Steel Battalion. Their

leader has been captured, and there's only a faint glimmer of hope for their

forbidden spell. They only have one final course of action, I think..."

"Your Highness! Armored Wood Golems and several strange machines are

near our Yulong border! The scouting report numbers around three-thousand

of them in total! They're marching in the direction of the capital!" An exhausted

soldier charged over and started screaming at us.

I goddamn knew it.

But wait, Wood Golems too? Bowman, you son of a bitch!

"Th-Three thousand...?!" The king of Felsen started sweating bullets, but I

turned to him with a grin.

"Need a hand?"

"Huh?"

"Yeah, no worries. Our stolen Frame Gear ended up creating the basis for the

Steel Battalion anyway. Also they kind of pissed me off, so I'd like to put a stop

to them."

I already had enough to worry about with the Phrase and everything else. I

didn't need these guys adding to the troubles.

I decided that I'd end the problem right there, once and for all.

◇ ◇ ◇

"Oooh... There's a lot..." They were pretty far off, but the Steel Battalion and

Armored Golems were advancing in our direction.

There were roughly three-thousand in total. About nine-hundred-and-fifty of

them made up the Steel Battalion, and the rest were Golems.

Some of them were being piloted by mages, but not all of them. About two

thirds of them were being automated by Golem cores, and a lot of the pilots

were non-mages.

The Golden Order saw anyone who could even use a little bit of magic as an

ally. Sol was only capable of a small amount, but that's why he was accepted by

them. But anyone that couldn't use magic was seen as inferior beings, and

treated like barbarians.

Sol had been promised a high-ranking military position in the new Magia

Imperium that they wanted to establish, but that dream wasn't going to happen

now.

Operating one of the Steel Battalion wasn't difficult. An amateur could handle

it after a few days of practice. Though of course the individual capability

definitely varied.

So yeah. Nine-hundred-and-fifty Steel Battalion units, two-thousand-and-fifty

Armored Golems... And about sixty Frame Gears waiting to fight them. We were

outnumbered roughly fifty to one.

They had an overwhelming numerical advantage, that much was true. I wasn't

afraid, though. I'd fought the one Bowman was piloting, and figured out a few

things. It was clearly different to the Frame Gears. They just couldn't compare

to our new models. Though I definitely needed to support the army. I couldn't

expect everyone to be able to take out fifty enemies alone.

"Grand Duke... Will this many truly be enough to win?"

"We're going to be fine, don't worry about it. Just trust me on this. I don't

think your battlemages need to trouble themselves, honestly." The king of

Felsen sighed quietly, so I gave him some reassurance.

There were around two-thousand battlemages behind the Frame Gears, just

in case. I told him we didn't need them, but I didn't mind them standing by if it

made him feel better.

A rabbit-eared knight came bounding over toward us.

"Milord. All combatants have boarded their Frame Gears. We're ready to

move whenever."

"Roger that. Let's take care not to overexert ourselves."

"Of course." Knight Commander Lain gave me a little salute and boarded her

Shining Count. I was really proud of how far she'd come. She had the makings of

a true leader in her.

There was a crest with a rabbit design carved on to the pauldrons of Lain's

Frame Gear. Given she was a rabbit beastman herself, it made sense to me.

Apparently Linze had designed the emblem, which caught me by surprise.

Similarly, there was a fox emblem on Vice-Commander Nikola's Frame Gear,

and a wolf on Vice-Commander Norn's.

Each of them was leading a sub-group of twenty Chevaliers. On top of that,

Elze, Yae, and Hilde were participating with Gerhilde, Schwertleite, and

Siegrune. Moroha was also hanging around as extra firepower. With all that

stuff backing us, I had nothing to fear at all.

"Alright. Shall we begin?" The moment I spoke, dozens of portals opened in

the air above the enemy. I connected my [Storage] and allowed several small

phrasium balls to rain down on the enemy. Naturally I'd increased their weight

with [Gravity] as well.

"[Meteor Rain]!" They all fell down at the same time. The altitude was too

high for a pin-point precise attack, but it wasn't like they were easy to dodge to

begin with.

The Steel Battalion and Golems alike were whittled down by the crystal

barrage. The earth itself trembled as the balls penetrated the ground.

Their numbers ended up being reduced by about a third by my initial strike

alone. I used my smartphone to broadcast to everyone on the battlefield.

"All units, engage! Let's wipe 'em all out!"

"HOO-AH!!!" All the Frame Gears started following their respective

commanders. The gray Chevaliers began to trade blows with the Steel Battalion.

After only two or three hits, a Chevalier was able to slice one of the Steel

Battalion scrapbots in half.

Height-wise, the Steel Battalion only came up to a Frame Gear's chest. They

still looked sturdy due to their stout design, but it seemed like that was more

for their looks than anything else. In all honesty, they were more flimsy than

you'd expect. They were kind of like cheap foreign knock-offs, with a lot of cut

corners in the manufacturing process.

I wondered exactly how shoddy the raw materials they used were. They were

honestly crumpling like dollar-store goods.

Hell, when they hit Frame Gears, little bits of them broke off on impact. It was

pitiful to watch.

"I guess I'll be heading out, then."

"Just don't go nuts, yeah? No need to rend the earth or sky. Just offer your

support."

"I got it, I got it..." Moroha merrily charged on to the battlefield, wielding a

two-meter phrasium blade in one hand.

You're gonna shock them on appearance alone... None of them are gonna

expect a swordswoman to charge them!

"Die, die, die!! Get crushed, losers!" Elze's Gerhilde was firing its pile bunkers

all over the place, crushing Golem cores left and right. She raged across the

battlefield like a crimson deity of destruction.

Yae's Schwertleite was gracefully dancing across the battlefield, slicing any

enemy it came across cleanly in two. She didn't waste a single motion.

Hilde's Siegrune was supporting the Chevaliers by blocking attacks with her

shield, and crushing the enemy with counter-attacks. She was doing a great job

of defending her allies in the more crowded parts of the battlefield.

"Touya, Touya! Come on! Haven't I waited long enough?!" I suddenly heard a

voice from a mech that I hadn't deployed to the battlefield. It was Sue, in her

personal Frame Gear. Ortlinde.

It was a Frame Gear that specialized in defensive functionality. It had a

coating of phrasium above its orichalcum base, giving it the strongest armor out

of any Frame Gear produced so far. It was golden and adorned with black here

and there, giving it the most gaudy appearance as well. It wasn't quite to my

taste, but Sue demanded it... I couldn't win against her whining.

It was a complete coincidence that the name matched up with her family

name, too... It just happened to go with the naming scheme. I'm serious. That's

why I said it twice.

While it specialized in defense, that wasn't its true power.

"Alright, let's let you debut then. It's the first time, so we'll try manual

control. Cesca, Rosetta, Monica. You ready?"

I put my smartphone up to my ear to get the final confirmation.

"Gungnir ready, Master."

"Laevateinn ready, sir!"

"Mjolnir is, like, totally ready!" I confirmed that they were all ready to roll. It

was time to test this out.

"Alright. Sue, begin the combo sequence! Docking approved!"

"Gotcha! Frame dockinggg!" As Sue yelled, a spear-like object flew in from the

sky. It was Gungnir, the flying boat.

Then the armored train, Laevateinn, kicked up dust into the air as it barreled

in from the rear.

At the same time, the multipurpose underground tank, Mjolnir, burst out

from the ground with its mighty drill.

Laevateinn wasn't technically a train, since it floated a bit above the ground

and didn't use rails. It's kind of similar to a linear motor train... I guess? Nah, not

really... They're not alike at all.

Mjolnir didn't actually drill the earth in front of it, either. It just used magic to

displace the earth in another area. The drill was little more than a snazzy

decoration for the most part.

Basically, Mjolnir used [Storage] to shift the earth in front of it out of the way,

and then put it back in the space behind it. So it could move through the earth

without actually making tunnels. It was capable of using the drill, but that only

really happened when it initially entered the earth and rose up out of the earth.

Its design was based on something in an older anime I showed them.

When all three support vehicles came together and got within range of

Ortlinde, the Frame Gear would rise into the air and prepare for the

combination mode. Ortlinde's specialized docking system allowed it to combine

with the three support units and enhance its power. Mjolnir split itself into two

and fused with Ortlinde to become its legs.

Then Laevateinn split itself into two and stuck itself on to the end of

Ortlinde's arms and created longer limbs.

Lastly, Gungnir would swoop down and fold itself into a V-shape before

docking on Ortlinde's back. After that a mask would pop out of the Frame

Gear's chest and land on its face, and its horns would start emitting light. I

questioned the need for a gimmick like that, but whatever.

"Behold our true power! Ortlinde Overlord!"

Seriously...? Ortlinde Overlord? These guys are just getting out of hand now.

What kind of tacky naming convention is that?! The earth shuddered as the

uh... Ortlinde... Overlord, thing, crashed to the ground. The mighty hero finally

made its debut.

The lumbering golden god descended upon the stage. It was twice as big as a

regular Frame Gear. It was absolutely a symbol of pure power.

"Wh-What the..."

"It's huge... Can that thing fight?!" The Felsen army stared in disbelief.

Honestly it was enough to even blow me away, so I could understand what they

were feeling.

"Here we go! Cannon Knuckle!" The Ortlinde Overlord's right arm detached

and rocketed toward one of the Armored Golems. It was a thick lump of

orichalcum and phrasium that hurtled through the air at impossible speeds,

shattering the Golem to pieces.

The right arm, which worked similarly to the Fragarach system, swung around

in an arc before pulling back and clicking back on Ortlinde's elbow.

You guys even made that...? Talk about getting carried away! Installing a

Fragarach is fine and all, but you remodeled it into a goddamn rocket punch? I

imagined that this was Doctor Babylon's doing. She probably said something

like "this needs more punch!"

The Ortlinde Overlord suddenly charged into the heat of battle. Its body was

massive, but it still moved with a startling level of speed. This was because it

was enchanted with [Gravity] at several key points.

The Ortlinde Overlord smashed itself into a Golem. It was then that I realized I

hadn't really designed any weapons for it. I made a mental note to put some

together later on.

The Golem she'd hit fell to the ground and died immediately. The struck area

had been completely obliterated. Ortlinde was an unreasonable powerhouse... I

questioned whether it was wise to actually give it to Sue.

"Sue. Be a little more careful with your movements. Think about where your

hits'll land."

"I got it! Rosetta handles that stuff anyway, don't worry!" She answered as

she made Ortlinde casually smash a Golem's head.

Hmm... We initially planned for the vehicles to be in autopilot mode. It might

be better if they're always set to manual gynoid control...

"Cannon Knuckle!!!" ... Yeah, manual's best. They can stop her if she gets

overzealous. Holy crap she just wiped out a ton of them!

The enemy had already been routed in the area where Ortlinde Overlord was

rampaging. That made sense though; the very presence of the thing had

completely demoralized the opposing side.

Moroha, however, wasn't going to let anyone escape. She sliced off the arms

and legs of the Steel Battalion bots, and then sealed their cockpits shut,

effectively trapping the pilots inside metal tombs.

A mere hour after the battle had begun, it was over.

"Milord. We've accomplished our mission."

"Excellent work. Keep an eye out just in case any enemies try fleeing. Sue and

the rest, keep an eye out for any weird magic readings. We don't want anyone

looting us again."

"Gotcha!" I looked over at the king of Felsen. He was simply staring in

disbelief.

"I'll leave the arrest of the Steel Battalion pilots to you, alright?"

"Huh...? O-Oh, yes... Right. Leave it to us. We'll jail them, interrogate them,

and such. I'm sure they'll come peacefully after seeing this one-sided victory."

With that, the dream of the Golden Order had been annihilated.

The Felsen army bore witness to the event, so news would probably spread

fast. Even if the Golden Order had remnant members around the country,

they'd probably keep quiet after hearing what happened here.

Naturally, we'd still interrogate the captured members here in order to find

out more information on the members, hideouts, and other details.

All I did in this battle was invoke [Meteor Rain], so I was impressed. This

wasn't a battle against the Phrase, so they would've probably done just fine

without me.

I looked up at Sue's Frame Gear with a smile on my face. The rising sun shone

against its glimmering gold.

◇ ◇ ◇

All the members of the Golden Order had been successfully rounded up,

including the sub-leader. With that, the organization was done for.

Upon being caught, all the members were informed of the truth about the

[Sanctuary] spell. After learning that, most came quietly, apparently crushed by

the news. Even though it was far too late for them, they realized the futility of

their plans.

They looked miserable, but they were just reaping what they'd sown. Their

efforts had resulted in the deaths of many, and their ambitions would've killed

even more. I had no sympathy for them at all.

Those who had committed serious offenses were immediately put to death,

those who committed lesser offenses were given fifty years of hard labor in the

mines.

In regards to the Steel Battalion, it seemed that Galzeld's Magic Corps

operated separately from Bowman's Magitechnicians, so all knowledge about

how to create them was confined to Bowman and, to a lesser extent, his team.

Still, it's not like the two would be able to make anything 'proper' compared

to a Frame Gear even if they worked together perfectly.

Bowman had been publicly executed in Roadmare already, and Galzeld's

execution was already scheduled. There were definitely magitechnicians and

engineers that had some vague ideas of how the Steel Battalion was put

together, but they were all in custody. I had a good feeling that I wouldn't be

seeing any of those machines around ever again. Nobody with that kind of

knowledge was around anymore, after all.

Then again, they'd been built, so it was possible that someone could reverse

engineer something from that which had already been reverse engineered. It

was entirely possible for knock-offs of knock-offs to appear, or maybe even

knock-offs of those knock-offs of knock-offs could sprout up in the future.

"Trash is trash at the end of the day, but I'm honestly impressed he managed

to create such an effective bastardization of my Frame Gears."

"That's right, ma'am! It's crude as heck, but still impressive in the worst

possible way! I'm amazed to the point where I can't even think of how he did it,

yessir!" Both of the Babylon twerps jeered and shook their heads as they looked

at the wrecked mech.

Y'know if you two keep bitching about the Steel Battalion any longer,

Bowman's vengeful ghost might float over here and whine. I'd just use [Banish]

on him, though. No biggie.

We took the preventative measure of trashing every member of the Steel

Battalion we could find. I really didn't want to find out that someone stole one

and made an even shoddier version.

Felsen was thankful to me for sweeping the dark matter under the rug. My

reputation in Yulong, on the other hand, had gone down even further...

I'd gone in disguise, but Yae's Schwertleite and Hilde's Siegrune stuck out like

a sore thumb. Everyone who saw the incident now believed the Silver Oni to be

an agent of Brunhild.

The people of the capital were happy that the Heavenly Emperor was dead,

but they weren't thankful that it was me that had done it. They probably didn't

appreciate that I had barged in without formal declaration and just done what I

wanted.

It's not like I did it for the sake of the people of Yulong or anything, but even

so... It was a little disappointing to not be appreciated. It's not like I needed

their thanks, but it still would've been nice to have.

Yulong was absolutely not gonna recover as a nation at this point, and that

suited me just fine. They'd have to rely on foreign aid to pull themselves back

up, and no nation on the continent wanted to offer them anything like that.

There already wasn't enough food to go around in the central provinces, so

most Yulongese citizens were moving outwards towards towns on the borders

of the other countries.

Those towns effectively relied on those external countries to survive, so it'd

only be a matter of time before the territories were absorbed by Roadmare,

Felsen, Horn, Hannock, or Nokia.

Xenoahs maintained its typical non-interference policy, but that was nothing

new. There weren't as many immigrants heading up that way anyway; the

climate was rougher and the food that their people ate took quite a bit of

getting used to.

Plus, there were no major towns near the Xenoahs border anyway.

Either way, a lot had happened, but I felt like I could finally relax a little.

I wanted to take some time off, but there was still enough left to be done that

it wasn't possible for me to totally rest...

"So what will you guys be doing now?"

Sonia, Rengetsu, and Jesty were staying in the Silver Moon for the time being,

I decided to visit them. Their quest of vengeance was over, after all, so I had a

feeling they'd be moving on.

"Well, we're adventurers... And we happen to have heard about a certain set

of ruins accessible from Brunhild. So we were thinking of settling down here for

a while and tackling quests here in order to make some extra money. Sound

good?" Sonia and Jesty nodded along with what Rengetsu told me. I was

completely fine with it. Having talented adventurers like them around would

surely be a boon.

I asked them to keep quiet about what had happened in Yulong. But I didn't

really think they were the types to brag about having killed one of the

prospective Heavenly Emperors of a foreign nation.

In all honesty I wanted them to join my knight order. They were absolutely

strong enough... But I held off on the invitation because I didn't want to tie

them down.

I waved goodbye to the trio and then started wandering off.

"Oh, milord. Taking a lone stroll, today?"

"Ah, milord! Got some tasty apples for sale!"

"Milord! Wanna play spinning tops with us?!" A bunch of different townsfolk

from all walks of life greeted me as I strolled along. It wasn't really possible for

me to go around without attracting attention, but I didn't mind too much.

Everyone had seemed to default to calling me 'milord,' though. Felt almost

like a weird nickname. They weren't trying to mock me or anything, so it was

fine. They were just finally getting used to my hands-on approach.

The Duchy of Brunhild only had one town. So in a sense, this town was

Brunhild. If the town became any bigger, it'd absolutely be Brunhild's capital

city.

I decided to head out east. There were a bunch of rice paddies there, because

it was the site of our farming operation. Environmentally speaking, that area of

the country was similar to rural Eashen. Honestly the whole place felt like a

Japanese farming village. The water wheel I had installed there also added to

that aesthetic.

"Things are looking good here."

"Ah, milord. Visiting little old me?" Lakshy the alraune was taking a little break

beneath a tree. She was ostensibly a member of our knight order, but most of

her duties these days were agricultural.

She was a demonkin species rooted in plant life, after all. She was the ideal

person for the job. It was for this reason that she was allowed to skip out on

most regular knightly duties.

Our knight order had around a hundred members, but around forty of those

weren't actually combatants. They were assigned to other areas. Some tended

the land like Lakshy, some worked in clerical positions, some worked as covert

intelligence, some in construction, and so on.

Still, that didn't mean they were weak. They were still people who had passed

my examination process. They still trained on their own in their spare time, too.

It wasn't like they could farm or paperwork shuffle their way out of a conflict if

it came to them.

"We'll be expecting a heavy haul of rice in the fall."

"Looking forward to it. Is there anything troublesome going on around here,

by the way?"

"Uhm... Lemme think. Oh, I guess I was a little concerned because it hasn't

rained much in the past couple days. But it's not like you can fix that, milord..."

"Descend, O Water. Blessing of the Heavens: [Heavenly Rain]!" The pitterpatter of water fell down to the ground as the heavens opened up. There

wasn't a cloud in the sky, but rain fell all the same, localized entirely on the

farm. In the past I'd made a mistake in regards to the range, but I'd since honed

it to the point of selecting the area.

The farmers in the field seemed a little confused at the sudden rain, and even

more confused at the [Shield] spells I'd manifested above their heads. But once

they saw me they just shrugged as if they understood it was one of those

things, and sat down a bit to relax.

Lakshy looked on in wonder before turning her attention to me once more.

"Goodness me... Is there nothing you can't do, milord?"

"There's a lot I can't do, Lakshy. That's why I rely on you and everyone else."

Doing everything myself is no way to live. I'm glad that I can depend on others

to build my nation with me. Doing it alone just isn't right. Old man Naito,

Kousaka... Lakshy, and everyone else. You guys are the ones that actually run

this country. The best thing I can do is keep you all safe while you keep on

moving forwards. I won't forgive anyone that targets this nation or its people. If

anyone wants to start shit for no good reason, like Yulong, I'll come down on

them like a ton of bricks.

The rain finally ended, and I headed away from the farmland.

I decided to visit the recently-built school. There weren't any students in

attendance yet, but Fiana and the two other recently-hired teachers were

cleaning up their respective classrooms.

The two new teachers were a female human in her 20s, and a male elf. He

looked young, but he was an elf... I later learned he was apparently over twohundred years old. That still made him younger than Doc Babylon and Leen,

though... which felt a little weird.

The woman was named Miette, and the elf guy was called Leisail. Miette had

gotten a formal education in the Regulus Empire, and then made her way to

Brunhild. Leisail was a mage, and apparently quite the veteran adventurer. He

was hired on Relisha's recommendation.

Yumina used her Mystic Eye to determine whether or not they were good

people, just in case. They were both deemed to be pure of heart.

I was heading over to greet them, when I suddenly noticed a clowder of cats

in one of the schoolyard corners.

"What in the..."

The cats were surrounding a cardboard box. Stood atop the box, on his hind

legs, dictating to the group in some foreign tongue, was none other than Mr.

Mittens...

"Meow meow meow. Yeow meow. Meow! Meeeeow!"

...Cat language? What the hell is he saying?

"The hell's going on here, Mr. Mittens?"

"It's D'Artagnan! And I'm acquiring pawsitive infurmation from my

informeowants here."

Your informants...? You became king of the strays, now? Well, Kohaku still

outclasses you.

"And what are you gonna use that information for, huh?"

"Fur security purrposes, of course! The school's my territory, so I'm gonna

protect my venerable benefactor from harm!"

...Since when was this place your territory? Well, whatever. Using cats to get

information on suspicious happenings is actually really smart. If anything

happens around here, then a stray cat has a good chance of seeing it. Good job,

Mr. Mittens.

"Well, alright then. If anything weird happens, let Sakura know."

"You got it, meow." I hadn't summoned him, so he didn't have a telepathic

bond with me. He still had a link with Sakura though, so if he informed her, she

could phone me right away.

As I pondered the effectiveness of a cat spy network, my phone began to ring.

Huh. A call? I took my phone out of my pocket and saw that the caller was none

other than Doctor Babylon. I have a bad feeling about this...

"'Sup..."

"Touya, Touya! I think the next one should have a transformative function

that allows it to shift from humanoid form to a more battle-oriented form...!"

"Master, Master, sir! The next one should be a supercarrier battleship that

can transport all the Frame Gears at once, yessir it should!"

"There should be A-Parts that slot into B-Parts...!"

"If Ma'am Sakura's Frame Gear uses singing to create oscillation attacks,

then...!"

Shut up! The moment I picked up the call, I received a flood of screaming from

Rosetta and Regina both. I instinctively pulled the phone away from my ear. I

really shouldn't have shown you guys any anime... You're just making whatever

the hell you want! God damn it.

Well, I'm a dude, so I can understand their excitement... It's honestly a little bit

jarring when I see girls get so fired up about giant robots. Maybe I've been

thinking about this from the wrong angle the whole time. The two of them

started blabbing and asking more details about some mecha shows they'd seen.

I didn't want to go into too much detail, since some of the giant robots they

asked about worked on nuclear fission, and I absolutely didn't want that kind of

technology getting introduced into this world. I knew Babylon would up and

make something like that if I was too detailed.

In the end, I sighed in defeat and moved the phone far from my ear, but I

could still hear their chattering voices...