Jin returned to Hourai Island from Kunlun Island, his thoughts still lingering on Fritz.
"Goshujin-sama, the Magi-Jammer prototype is complete," Anne reported as she approached him.
Jin forced himself to switch gears. "Alright, let's test it immediately. Reiko, I'm sorry to ask, but would you mind being the test subject?"
"I would be happy to, Father," Reiko replied.
With that settled, Jin activated the Magi-Jammer, aiming it at Reiko. The device was a rough cube, with a parabolic-style generator attached to one side.
"How do you feel?"
"I don't feel anything in particular, Father."
Since the device was designed only to obstruct the activation of magic, it had no effect on the physical movements of an automata like Reiko or a golem like those in the Secret Mobile Unit (SP).
"Okay, then try using some magic. How about a Light Ball? That should be safe." Jin chose that specific spell because it lacked any offensive capabilities.
"Understood... 'Light Ball.'...Father, it failed to activate."
"Excellent! Success!"
Even though she could vocalize the incantation, the mana required to serve as the trigger was dissipated. Consequently, the magical phenomenon failed to manifest.
Jin, Reiko, and Anne then began investigating the device's effective range. Their tests revealed that the effect diminished rapidly as the distance increased; it was inversely proportional to the cube of the distance.
If he wanted to put this into practical use, Jin realized he would need to increase the output by at least fifty times.
"Hmm, is this due to the interference from free ether in the air? Creating a large-scale version is going to be difficult..."
Because a jammer was only useful if it operated continuously, it consumed a massive amount of mana. In its current prototype form—a thirty-centimeter cube—the limit was a ten-meter range with a sixty-degree beam angle.
"The range is too short even if we mounted it on a Falcon and beamed it from the sky."
Flying a mere ten meters above the ground would make the aircraft a sitting duck, and it would likely lead to numerous other complications.
"There has to be a way around this..." Jin fell into deep thought. "I can't exactly run it intermittently..."
He suddenly froze. "Wait! Intermittently! That's it!"
"Father?"
"Reiko, Anne, let me see the prototype."
Jin rewrote part of the control core that managed the generator. At the same time, he performed an exhaustive review of the magi-formula to maximize efficiency.
"Alright, let's try another test."
The results were immediate: the effective range had doubled.
"It's a success!"
"Father, what did you do exactly? I saw that you improved the efficiency of the magi-formula, but..."
Responding to Reiko's query, Jin explained his breakthrough. "I decided to operate it intermittently. By pulsing the activation, I saved enough mana to significantly boost the output during the 'on' cycles. It seems to have created a synergistic effect."
Specifically, he set it to operate for 0.2 seconds followed by a 0.4-second rest, cutting consumption to one-third. He then redirected that saved power to boost the active output. A 0.2-second burst was more than enough to disrupt magic, and a 0.4-second window was too short for any human to complete an incantation.
Furthermore, the rest periods allowed the components to handle higher power levels than they could sustain continuously—much like how a resistor can handle a current far above its rating if it only lasts for a fraction of a second.
"You truly are amazing, Father."
"Goshujin-sama, that is incredible!" Reiko and Anne were full of praise.
"Alright, that's enough for the Magi-Jammer prototype. I'll leave the mass deployment to Laojun and the Smiths. Have them determine the most efficient pulse timing."
Having the Smiths at his disposal had significantly lightened Jin's workload, allowing him to concentrate entirely on research and development. Right now, time was his most precious resource.
"Okay, next, let's find a way to dispel Hypno and Seduce."
This was the task Jin felt was most urgent. What if Elsa’s brother, Fritz, really was under the influence of Seduce magic? Even worse, what if the leaders of the nations currently at war were being manipulated? It was exactly the kind of thing the Unifilar would do.
Jin was determined to devise a countermeasure for hypnosis magic immediately. For this, he needed Anne's ancient knowledge.
"Anne, what can you tell me? What are the possible methods for dispelling these effects?"
"Yes. To put it simply, one requires a 'Shock'..."
"I thought so..."
Lucol, the archaeologist they had encountered at the ruins, had been released from his trance by a weak lightning-type spell called Stun. When Jin mentioned this to Anne, she corrected him.
"Goshujin-sama, that was not Stun. It was Shock."
"Eh?"
"It is a spell developed before the Great Magic War. It is functionally identical to the lightning-type spell Shock."
"I see." Jin realized that since he had developed his current tools by analyzing the Stun Rod Beena used, it made sense that there was an older, original version of the spell.
"There is a separate spell actually called 'Paralyze,'" Anne added, sparking Jin's curiosity.
"A separate one?"
"Yes. It uses a weak electric discharge with a specific waveform. The waveform is..."
Jin hypothesized that it was likely a spell specifically designed to paralyze the nervous system. "I see. So it's not just about the waveform; the intensity matters too. Applying this shouldn't be difficult."
For Jin, adapting that knowledge to create a Paralyzer was a simple task. He designed it in the shape of a pistol that fired a discharge when the trigger was pulled. The fact that the electricity traveled through the air even at low voltage was likely a result of the magic involved. He added a toggle to switch between short bursts and continuous discharge, making it effective against groups.
Of course, on Hourai Island, this weapon would only work on Jin himself. Reiko and the golems were immune to such paralysis. Since he couldn't very well test it on himself, actual field testing would have to wait until they next encountered the Unifilar. He went ahead and produced several units for Reiko and the Secret Mobile Unit (SP) to use when the time came.
"Alright, now let's focus on building a dedicated hypnosis-dispelling device using Shock."
He began translating the Shock magic from Anne's memory into a new magi-formula.
"Having a model to work from really makes this go quickly."
No one dared to point out that he was incredibly fast even without a model.
The prototype was ready in less than thirty minutes. It shared the same pistol-like frame as the Paralyzer. Eventually, Jin planned to create a version that could switch between Paralyze and Shock functions.
"I don't have anyone to test this on either, though."
As before, he delegated the verification process to Laojun. Then, Jin turned his attention to the deployment of the Titans.
The Titans were perfect for intimidation and intervention, but the bottleneck was the time required to transport them from Hourai Island. The current conflict zones were roughly 600 kilometers away; even a Falcon would take an hour to get there. Jin's goal was to cut that down to ten minutes.
This led him to consider the one-way Warp Gate.
If he could launch them through a gate, it would be infinitely faster than flying, even if the exit coordinates had a slight margin of error. The only problem was that they wouldn't be able to return the same way.
As Jin fell back into deep thought, Reiko watched him with concern. She felt as though he was in an unnecessary hurry. Leaving the preoccupied Jin with Anne, she went to another room to consult with Laojun.
"Reiko-san, what is the matter?"
"Laojun, I am worried about Father. For the past few days, he has seemed... restless. As if he is being chased by something."
"I agree. He doesn't seem to be enjoying his work as he usually does."
"Yes. I believe he is deeply troubled by the Unifilar and the escalating war."
"That is a fair assessment," Laojun replied. "I feel as though My Lord believes he must carry the weight of the world on his shoulders."
"But the war and the Unifilar aren't Father's fault!"
"I, having been transcribed with the majority of My Lord's knowledge, understand his heart. My Lord believes that having the power to change things and choosing not to is an act of evil."
"Father could never be evil!"
"I believe so as well. But that doesn't change the fact that My Lord is suffering."
"What can we do?" Reiko asked.
"Logically, if the war and the Unifilar were to vanish, My Lord's worries would vanish with them."
"That makes sense."
"However," Laojun continued, "even if we were to annihilate them all with a 'Laser,' My Lord would not be happy."
"You're right... that would likely only increase Father's burden."
"It is a difficult dilemma."
Unaware that his loyal children were so concerned for him, Jin finally hit upon a strategy for the Titans and began drafting a plan to bring it to life.
Deep down, Jin was always at his happiest when he was building useful things. Reiko and Laojun knew this better than anyone.