"W-What is happening?!"
The 6th Branch was currently in an absolute state of uproar.
It was just past nine at night, a time when vigilance typically faltered. The night shift was just beginning to stir, while those on regular duty were preparing for rest.
Panic rippled through the interior of the fortress.
"The guards at the side gate were found unconscious!"
"The perimeter team hasn't returned!"
"Two guards in the basement confirmed to be out cold!"
Reports flooded in one after another, but nothing made sense.
"Damn it, what on earth is going on?! Give me a report I can understand!"
The branch manager, Intact Marzesiria de Galvani, bellowed in a rage, though it did nothing to improve the situation.
"T-This is a disaster!"
"What now?"
"The—the prisoners are gone!"
"What? How can that be?"
Truly unable to fathom the situation, Intact was on the verge of a total breakdown.
"Branch manager, please, calm yourself. No matter how you look at it, we have to assume someone has infiltrated from the outside."
The one who spoke was Marcello, the vice-branch manager. He was also a magi craftman.
"Someone? Who is this 'someone'!"
Even when asked, Marcello had no answer to give.
"A messenger pigeon arrived from headquarters yesterday, didn't it? Please recall what it said."
"What? You expect me to take that upstart Purcell’s ramblings seriously?"
"I am merely saying we should consider it a possibility."
Though his words hit closest to the truth, Intact refused to listen. Left with no choice, Marcello was about to issue orders himself when it happened.
He felt an impact as if he’d been punched in the face. Just as he thought something had streaked past his eyes, a dull thud echoed and a hole appeared in the wall.
"W-What? What was that just now?"
When he touched his face, he found blood trickling down.
In the next instant, accompanied by another heavy thud, a hole opened in the wall behind him.
He had no idea what was happening. Though Marcello was a reasonably talented magi craftman, he had no knowledge of such a phenomenon, nor could he even begin to speculate on its cause.
In the adjacent room, a guard fell into a state of panic when a hole suddenly appeared in the wall and something grazed his arm, gouging out a large chunk of flesh.
However, Marcello managed to keep his head.
"What did that letter say... Right, 'There is a magi craftman who told us "Don't get involved with us."' Could it really be..."
"Branch manager! Holes are appearing in the walls! Two combat golems on standby have been pulverized!"
"Something is lodged in the wall facing the river!"
More reports came screaming in.
"Pry out whatever is stuck there and bring it to me at once!"
After barking the order, Marcello moved to the front of the fortress and peered outside through a small observation slit.
"Hm? What are those?"
Several figures stood about a hundred meters away. It was dark and they were far off, making it impossible to distinguish their faces.
"Judging by the angle of the holes, are they the ones responsible?"
After a moment's thought, he decided to deploy two combat golems. Naturally, he chose lower-class golems to test the enemy's strength.
"Go. If they are enemies, capture them and bring them here."
"Well, it should be about time for some kind of reaction."
Ten minutes had passed since the three Railgun shots were fired. In the darkness, Jin stared at the fortress with his helmet set to night-vision mode.
"Ah, Father, something is coming out."
Reiko, whose vision was even sharper than Jin's night-vision equipment, spotted two golems emerging from the fortress.
"They're walking this way. Golems... and they don't look like particularly good ones."
One could judge a golem's quality by its gait. Stiff, awkward movements usually indicated a low-class model—though simple physical strength wasn't always dictated by such grace.
Once they closed the distance to twenty meters, Jin could clearly see they were golems. He could see their lackluster craftsmanship as well.
"I don't suppose they're coming to make friends."
The two golems seemingly lacked vocal functions; they approached in silence, not breaking their stride as they reached out to seize Jin.
"What do you think you're doing?"
Reiko gave her Railgun a single, heavy swing.
The weapon was made of adamantite and weighed approximately fifty kilograms—heavier than Reiko herself. Struck by such a blunt instrument, both golems were crumpled instantly and ceased to move.
"How fragile..."
The outer plating was bronze. Jin couldn't understand why the enemy would bother sending such things out.
"Let's try getting a bit closer. I know—Ash, Elm, bring those golems along."
"Understood, Chief."
The Secret Mobile Unit (SP) members, Ash and Elm, each shouldered one of the disabled golems. Land 50 and 51 moved with them.
Under the cover of night, Jin and his group approached to within forty meters of the structure.
"Alright, hurl those golems back at the fortress wall....Let's see, I'll let the Lands handle this one. Land 50, Land 51, if you please."
"Yes, Master."
Land 50 and 51 hoisted the golems simultaneously and threw them with all their might toward the upper walls of the fortress.
The maximum output of these Army golems was roughly twenty percent of Reiko's current capacity. In practical terms, that was an incredible amount of power.
Launched with such force, the golems slammed into the fortress wall and became half-embedded in the stone, their bodies completely mangled.
"W-W-What are those things?"
As he watched from his vantage point, Marcello saw the golems suddenly fly through the air and wedge themselves into the wall.
At that sight, even Marcello lost his composure. But he quickly forced himself to think.
"Hmm, that strength... the golem with them must be the one that dominated the Golem Party. In that case, is that man Jin Nidou?"
The reports from the Golem Party and yesterday's message were lining up perfectly.
"This is no longer the time to hold back....'Light Ball.'"
Marcello manifested three Light Balls and floated them in front of the fortress. The darkness was banished, replaced by a brilliant glow.
Illuminated in the light were four golems that appeared built for combat, and one individual wearing a strange helmet who seemed to be commanding them.
What he found most baffling, however, was the figure of what appeared to be a young girl, standing there cradling a massive, unidentified weapon that was taller than she was.
"Hm, are those the attackers?"
When Marcello turned toward the voice, he saw that Intact had recovered enough to peer through another observation window.
"It appears so. The lower-class golems were no match for them."
"Hmph. Only I can woke up the upper-class combat golems. It matters not. I don't care who they are—I'll show them what happens when they cross me."
With that, Intact withdrew for a moment. He woke up all his combat golems and ordered them to deploy. However, as his trump cards, he kept his strongest combat golem and the universal golem in reserve.
As Marcello watched, fifteen combat golems charged out from the front of the fortress.
"A numerical advantage of more than double. Well, this should settle things."
"There are people behind the observation windows in the fortress. They're watching us," Reiko noted.
As she spoke, Light Balls rose into the air, illuminating the surroundings.
"They've finally noticed us. I suppose they'll be coming at us with everything they've got now. Barrier."
Though the defensive capabilities of his reinforcement suit were high, Jin cast a Barrier just in case.
Shortly after, fifteen golems came charging out from the doors at the front of the fortress.
The fact that Marcello had escaped with only a bloody face was a testament to his luck—the projectile had already punched through several walls, losing a massive amount of its kinetic energy before it grazed him.