The western shore of Azul Lake before dawn.
The terrain here formed a plateau, where a vast, slightly sloping wilderness stretched out into the distance. To the northwest, granite mountains rose steeply, their slopes dotted with thickets of shrubs. These mountains were rich in underground resources.
A fortress built over three hundred years ago stood in this desolate place. It had been meticulously maintained and renovated by a certain group.
The organization’s name was Unifilar.
"Ah, we’ve finally arrived."
A thermal balloon descended from the sky, and three figures stepped onto the ground.
"I’m exhausted, Elena."
The speaker was an elderly man with white hair and blue eyes.
"That is because you are human, Donald. I feel nothing," replied a breathtakingly beautiful girl. However, she exuded an aura as cold as ice.
The third figure was clearly not human; its silhouette identified it as Golem 457.
The three figures were quickly surrounded by numerous shadows that emerged from the surroundings.
"Thank you for the welcome," Donald said grandly. He began to walk, flanked by the security golems that had approached him. Elena and Golem 457 followed close behind.
A section of the rock face served as a hidden door. A golem pulled it open with the superhuman strength unique to its kind, revealing a vast interior space.
They crossed a wide hall, passing through doors guarded by golems who recognized them on sight. They climbed stairs and traversed a long corridor. When they reached the door at the very end, it opened automatically as they placed a hand upon it.
Inside was a lavishly decorated room. Colorful tapestries hung on the left and right walls, and in front of them, gold and silver golems stood at attention with spears held high. A crimson carpet ran down the center of the room. Donald and Elena walked along it toward the far end.
"Welcome back, Elena."
A voice called out from the figure seated at the far end of the room.
"I have returned, My Lord," Elena replied.
"It seems the time for the general offensive has finally come?"
"Yes. As I reported from the thermal balloon, the chaos in the various kingdoms continues. If we shift to the offensive now, Unifilar, led by My Lord, can claim hegemony over the continent."
Her voice was as clear as a ringing bell, yet her words were steeped in madness. However, no one there found it suspicious. In the throne room of the Unifilar General Headquarters, the only living humans present were the Chairman and the second seat. In fact, there were fewer than fifty humans in the entire headquarters. The rest were all golems.
"Five hundred old-model combat golems. Five hundred new-model combat golems. Two hundred Universal Golems. A total of one thousand two hundred golems have been activated."
"As expected of My Lord, your preparations are thorough. Now, let us deploy—"
As Elena spoke, an urgent report came in from a security golem.
"Report. A giant shadow is approaching from the sky."
"From the sky?"
The man who sat as the Chairman of Unifilar operated a magic tool attached to the side of his chair. An image materialized in the air before him—an advanced version of a magi-screen.
By switching between several magic eyes installed outside the base, he succeeded in capturing the shadow in question.
A silhouette hung dark against the dawning sky—a truly bizarre object. Four rings were linked in a square, with something suspended from the center. That something appeared to be a massive humanoid.
"What is that?"
No one could answer him. However, Elena stared at the humanoid with burning eyes.
"That...! Without a doubt, that is an extension of Adriana's designs. I see, so the Mysterious Golem Master, Jin, has finally made his appearance. We must welcome him."
After muttering this, Elena turned back to the Chairman.
"Jules, deploy all golems. And the Gigas!" she commanded. Not a shred of the respect she had shown by calling him "My Lord" remained in her tone. Yet, no one dared to raise an objection.
"Father, we will reach the vicinity of Kashimnore shortly."
Reiko, sitting in the navigator's seat of Pegasus 1, spoke. Jin was sitting in the pilot's seat, though he was effectively doing nothing; he had left the flight to the autopilot, which utilized the control core of an Air Force golem.
"Understood. Stand by at high altitude. What’s the status of Titan 1?"
"It is scheduled to arrive at your location in about five minutes," Laojun's voice echoed through the manacam.
The distance from the submersible base to this point was about fifty kilometers. Although they had adjusted their departure times to arrive simultaneously, it was unavoidable that the Condor, being the slowest, would arrive last. A discrepancy of a few minutes was within expectations.
"Alright. Deactivate Stealth and let them approach while showing themselves to the enemy. If they notice us, they'll surely make a move."
Jin intended to crush them thoroughly.
"Drop the Army golem units a short distance away from the suspected location of the enemy base."
Following Jin's instructions, the ten Falcon units landed about two kilometers away from the target area. The three Pelican units also touched down on level ground.
With this, one hundred Army golems were assembled. They divided into squads of ten and lined up in formation. The Raptor units circled above, monitoring the ground from the sky.
The sun began to rise from beyond the horizon, dyeing the world in an ochre hue.
Illuminated by that light, Condor 1 and Titan 1, which it carried, came into view. Since Stealth was deactivated, they were clearly visible.
"Oh, there they are. Alright, have Titan 1 drop a bit closer to the enemy base."
As instructed, Titan 1 descended to a point about one kilometer from the fortress.
As the sun rose higher, the light shifted from ochre to gold, and then to a brilliant white. Amidst that light, the doors of the enemy base ground open.
One hundred combat golems, which Elena called old-models, marched out. Each one was equipped with a shield and a spear.
"First, a test of their strength. Go!"
At Elena's command, the combat golems began an orderly march.
"Father, enemy golems."
Jin and Reiko watched the movement from above.
"Alright, let's meet them with our Army golems. Land squad, move out!"
The battle of a hundred against a hundred golems began, but the engagement was staggeringly one-sided.
The hundred Unifilar golems advanced in a single horizontal line, forming a wall. It was a charge of perfect, robotic precision—a feat possible only for inorganic beings.
However, the Army golems they faced were no ordinary machines. They were classified among the highest-tier golems in existence.
The Unifilar golems raised their shields and thrust their spears through the gaps, forming a bristling wall of steel.
In contrast, the Land squad carried neither shields nor spears. Their only weapons were vibration swords. Crafted from magi-adamantite, these blades produced minute, high-speed vibrations when mana was channeled through them, allowing them to shear through anything they touched.
The steel spears thrust by the Unifilar golems were sliced away in an instant. With a fluid return stroke, the Land golems cut through the enemy shields and lunged into the defenseless chests of their opponents.
Their thrusts destroyed the control cores—the golems' hearts—with surgical precision.
Within ten seconds of making contact, the hundred Unifilar golems had been rendered combat-ineffective.
Jules, the Chairman of Unifilar, watched the scene through the magi-screen and was struck with horror.
"W-What?! The combat golems were wiped out instantly, even if they were old-models!"
Elena, though a look of frustration crossed her face, was busy measuring the Land squad's capabilities.
"Next! Send two hundred units! Do not use a formation. Forget the shields. Use swords."
The second wave, double the size at two hundred units, emerged. This time, they did not maintain a line but launched a scattered assault.
"Two hundred this time, huh. Land squad, retreat two meters from the wreckage of the first wave. Form squads and meet them in units."
Watching the battlefield from above provided a clear perspective of the combat. Even Jin, an amateur in warfare, could issue effective instructions with Anne’s assistance.
The enemy's charging speed faltered as they navigated around the remains of the defeated golems, their postures becoming disorganized.
Targeting those openings, Land and his team struck.
A strike at the legs sheared them off entirely. A diagonal slash cut straight through a chest, shattering the control core and stopping the enemy in its tracks. A decapitating blow robbed a golem of its sight, leaving it to be easily neutralized.
Fresh wreckage piled up on top of the initial remains.
Elena, watching the slaughter, spoke calmly.
"Now. Deploy five hundred new-model combat golems from behind them!"
The first round went to Hourai Island.