"Reiko!"
Jin’s scream echoed across the mountain.
The side Reiko had fallen from was a sheer precipice, dropping away for more than a hundred meters.
The Gigas approached Jin and Reinhard with slow, heavy steps.
"I can't believe it... Even Reiko-chan couldn't win," Reinhard muttered, his face turning pale.
"You bastard... You've got some nerve doing that to my Reiko."
Just as Jin was about to unleash a maximum-output Laser—
"My apologies, Father. I was careless."
Reiko came leaping back up over the edge of the cliff.
Jin aborted his spell. "Reiko! Are you alright?" he asked, his voice thick with concern.
Reiko waved her hands. "Yes. Nothing is broken." Her response was enough to put Jin at ease.
"Father, would you please leave that thing to me?"
Standing before Jin, Reiko looked genuinely angry.
"I caused you worry, even if only for a moment. I will take responsibility for that myself."
Without waiting for Jin's reply, she dashed forward. Jin called out to her retreating back.
"Reiko! Do whatever you want! But don't you dare lose this time!"
Bolstered by Jin’s shout of encouragement, Reiko cranked the output of her ether converter up to forty percent.
She became a blur, slamming into the Gigas's torso like a small bullet. The impact was enough to knock even the massive Gigas off its feet.
"Oh! Did she do it?" Reinhard let out a small cheer.
However, the Gigas lunged out and caught Reiko in its grip.
Compared to its overall physique, the Gigas’s arms were disproportionately thick and powerful. Its hands were equally massive, and Reiko’s small body was easily enveloped within them.
The Gigas began to tighten its hold, attempting to crush her while simultaneously reinforcing its own body with the mana it was draining from her.
A sickening, creaking groan filled the air—whether it came from Reiko or the Gigas was impossible to tell.
"Reiko!"
At Jin's shout, Reiko looked back just once and gave him a bright smile, as if to tell him there was nothing to worry about.
Then, she pushed the output of her ether converter to eighty percent.
"W-What is that?" Reinhard gasped in confusion.
And for good reason. The air around the Gigas had begun to glow with a faint, ethereal light. This was a secondary phenomenon that occurred when an immense amount of free ether was converted into mana.
The Gigas functioned by absorbing external mana and refining it within its mana driver to power itself.
Naturally, there was an upper limit to this process, dictated by the capacity of the mana driver.
To supply mana to both herself and the Gigas, Reiko’s ether converter entered full operation.
"Still holding on, are you? Then how about this!"
Reiko finally pushed her output to one hundred percent.
The Gigas tightened its crushing grip even further.
"You can still withstand this? Fine!"
Reiko pushed her output further—110 percent, then 120 percent.
It was a reckless gamble possible only because of her absolute faith in Jin and his technical prowess.
130 percent. 140 percent.
In the world of machinery and construction, there is a concept known as the safety factor.
A truck rated for ten tons doesn't break if you load twelve tons onto it because its safety factor is greater than one.
A design with little margin has a small safety factor, while a generous design has a large one. Often, this is a trade-off with manufacturing costs.
So, how did Reiko compare?
Reiko was the beloved daughter into whom Jin had poured his heart and soul, crafted from the finest materials in the world using the most advanced techniques. Her foundational design came from the predecessor Magi Craft Meister, Adriana Barbora Tsetse.
The Gigas, by contrast, was a mass-produced prototype, built in a hurry for a war against the demon race.
In terms of completion, durability, and reliability, Reiko was superior in every way. The cherished daughter of a Magi Craft Meister would never lose to a defective mass-produced relic.
At the very least, Reiko believed that with all her being.
150 percent. 160 percent.
The Gigas's rocky body began to radiate heat. Its mana driver had exceeded its tolerance limit.
170 percent. 180 percent.
The area surrounding the two was now glowing with a blinding intensity. This light was produced solely by the surplus energy generated during the conversion of free ether into mana.
"H-Hey, Jin, is Reiko-chan going to be okay?"
Even Reinhard looked terrified. Jin was just as worried, but he chose to trust the smile Reiko had shown him and simply watched.
190 percent.
A sharp, crystalline crack echoed across the ridge.
200 percent.
Something deep within the Gigas shattered. At that exact moment, its massive form crumbled into nothing more than a pile of rock debris. The blinding light vanished instantly.
Reiko lowered her output back to her standard five percent and brushed the dust from her clothes.
She turned toward Jin and gave a polite bow.
"I apologize for making you worry," she said simply.
Jin rushed over to her. "Reiko! Are you alright? Are you injured anywhere?" he asked, breathless.
"Yes, I am fine... Father, I am an automata. Please use terms like 'malfunction' or 'damage' rather than 'injury,'" Reiko replied.
Jin looked at her and shook his head. "Dummy. I told you before, didn't I? You're my daughter. So 'injury' is the right word."
"...Yes. Thank you, Father."
Reinhard watched their exchange in silence for a moment before speaking up.
"Jin, Reiko-chan, let's head back. Elsa must be worried sick."
Jin nodded in agreement. "Right. Reiko, is there anything left of the Gigas's core?"
"I will check."
Reiko immediately walked over to the pile of rubble and began digging. Before long, she seemed to have found something.
"Father, this was all I could find."
She held out a few fragments of a magi-crystal.
"I suppose that's only natural. With that much mana flowing into it, anything else would have been destroyed."
Jin took the three small shards and tucked them away.
Fragments of rock tumbled down from near the summit Elsa had been watching so intently.
"Are they... fighting?"
Elsa clasped her hands tightly against her chest.
Suddenly, the area around the peak was enveloped in an abnormal, brilliant light.
"Is that... magic power?"
The sheer intensity of the light suggested a terrifying amount of mana. Elsa’s face turned as pale as paper.
But the phenomenon ended as quickly as it had begun. With no way of knowing what was happening, Elsa endured a period of agonizing suspense that made her stomach churn.
However, as the sun climbed toward its zenith, she finally heard the footsteps she had been waiting for.
"They're back!"
Elsa scrambled out of the carriage. The butler Claude, who had been waiting outside, also stepped forward to greet his master.
"Jin-kun! Rai-nii!"
As the two men and Reiko came into view, Elsa’s brows furrowed. Both Jin and Reinhard were visibly injured.
Jin’s palms were smeared with blood, and Reinhard was bleeding from both knees.
"Was the enemy... that strong?" Elsa asked, her voice trembling with concern.
Reinhard managed a tired laugh. "Yeah, it was a tough one. but you don't have to worry anymore. Reiko-chan took care of it."
Reiko remained at Jin’s side, no longer hiding her presence.
"But, to have been hurt like that..."
When Elsa pointed to their wounds, Jin gave a sheepish grin.
"Oh, this? We both took a tumble while we were coming back down the mountain. Our walking sticks and water bottles rolled off somewhere too."
Elsa’s expression crumpled.
"Idiots. You made me so worried. I'm just glad... I'm so glad you're both safe."
Large tears began to roll down her cheeks. Because Jin’s hands were covered in blood, he hesitated to reach out to her. Instead, Reinhard pulled Elsa into a hug to comfort her.
"I'm sorry we scared you. We're back now, so don't cry."
Reinhard spent a good while soothing her.
After they had washed their wounds with water, they naturally had their injuries healed by Elsa’s magic.