"Reiko, can you handle this?"
To press their advantage, Jin needed to sow further chaos among the enemy ranks. Reiko was the perfect choice for the task.
"However, no direct intervention yet. Stick to long-range support using the magi-cannon."
Jin gave her firm instructions, as he had his own plans in mind. Reiko nodded obediently.
"Yes, Father. Please leave it to me."
Jin lowered Pegasus 1’s altitude. When they hovered about ten meters above the ground, Reiko spoke up.
"This is fine. Anne, please look after Father."
With those words, Reiko gripped Touka and her magi-cannon and leaped from Pegasus 1.
Deftly holding down the hem of her skirt, Reiko landed on the earth about five hundred meters away from the heat of the battle.
"Alright, Reiko. Fire the magi-cannon at thirty percent output."
"Understood."
Jin’s instructions came from Pegasus 1 as it regained altitude.
"I’ve just ordered Land squad to move. Our allies are shifting from the left to the right. Do you have a clear shot?"
Using her extraordinary vision, Reiko timed the exact moment the Land squad cleared the area. She braced the magi-cannon against her shoulder.
"Magi-cannon, thirty percent output. Fire!"
With the thunderous crack of a shockwave, the adamantite shell screamed through the air at Mach 20.
"What are they doing?! Ugh, how frustrating!"
Elena ground her teeth as she watched the magi-screen. Suddenly, several new combat golems were obliterated.
"Eh?"
A few seconds later, several more followed. Then several more.
"What? What is happening?!"
Even for Elena, projectiles moving at twenty times the speed of sound were impossible to track. She couldn't grasp the situation at all. Meanwhile, her golems continued to be torn apart.
After watching ten successive volleys shred her forces, Elena’s composure finally snapped.
"Golems! Scatter! You’re making yourselves easy targets! Scatter at once!"
That, however, was exactly what Jin had intended.
"Oh? The enemy's breaking rank. Reiko's shelling must have spooked them," Jin muttered to himself as he watched the scene unfold from the sky.
"Master, at this rate, an attack by the Raptor squad is also viable," Anne suggested.
"Yeah, you’re right. Rather than a wide-area strike, let’s have them pick off the enemy golems one by one with precision fire."
Jin issued a new set of orders to the Raptor squad.
"Raptor squad, target the enemy golems on the surface with your lasers. Be precise. Whatever you do, do not hit our allies."
"W-what is it this time?!"
Elena’s voice rose to a shrill scream.
On the magi-screen, her new combat golems were falling one after another. She had no idea how it was happening. Their heads, arms, or entire torsos would simply evaporate into nothingness before the machines collapsed.
"Just what... what is going on?!"
As Elena shrieked in desperation, the Unifilar Chairman, Jules, patted her shoulder in an attempt to calm her.
It only served to ignite her rage.
"Silence!"
Elena swung her arm back to throw him off. Her hand slammed into Jules’s chest. The sound of snapping bones echoed through the room, and Jules collapsed, coughing up blood.
"E-Ele... na?"
The boy barely managed a whisper before losing consciousness.
Elena looked down at the fallen Jules, regaining a small measure of her senses.
"Tsk. I’ve broken a useful piece. No matter; there are plenty more where he came from."
She feigned indifference as she turned to Donald, who stood by with a look of pure shock.
"Donald, from this moment, you are the Chairman of Unifilar."
Upon hearing those words, Donald’s panicked expression smoothed into a smile.
"I understand, Elena. I am the Chairman now."
His eyes were hollow, devoid of any personal will.
"Yes. Donald, how many thermal balloons do we have left?"
"Ten."
"Good. Deploy them all. Put the entire Magi Squad on board."
"Understood. We have twenty-eight magi, so three will board eight balloons, and the remaining two will carry two each. Is that acceptable?"
"Yes, that’s fine. Have them rain destruction on the enemy from the sky!"
"Good work, Raptor squad."
Jin watched the battle and felt things were proceeding smoothly.
The remaining enemy golems had dropped below a hundred; Land squad alone could easily mop up the rest. So far, Land squad had suffered no casualties. While some had taken minor damage, none of it hindered their combat effectiveness.
"Alright, Raptor squad, cease laser fire."
The enemies were too scattered now, and the efficiency of the aerial strikes had dropped. Jin judged that Land squad could handle the final push.
"I doubt they’re finished yet. What’s next?"
Just as the thought crossed Jin’s mind—
"Master, look at that."
At Anne’s prompting, Jin looked up. He had been so focused on the ground that he hadn't noticed the new threats approaching at their altitude.
They were about a kilometer away. To the naked eye, they were little more than dots. However, when he looked through the magi-screen’s telescopic function, Jin muttered with a rare note of admiration.
"Hoh, hot air balloons? I’d heard stories, but they really did develop such a thing."
"No, Master," Anne corrected. "As I reported to Laojun, those are called 'thermal balloons.' It seems they were developed during the Great Magic War as a countermeasure against flying magical beasts."
This information had come from a section of Anne’s memories that had only recently been restored.
"Those are the same models that appeared in Asunt and Tetrada, right? Well, the name doesn't matter much. From what I can see, they use fire magic to heat the air for lift and wind magic for propulsion."
As expected, Jin accurately deduced the operating principles at a glance.
"That is correct. That is why we were able to force them down with the Magi-Jammer in the previous engagement."
"Alright. Let's give them a scare first."
Jin directed Pegasus 1 toward the enemy thermal balloons.
"Keep the Magi-Jammer ready to fire at a moment's notice. And deploy a magic barrier to the front."
Operating as a VTOL craft, Pegasus 1 moved forward at a slow, deliberate pace, closing the distance to the enemy squadron.
"Still, every time I ride one of these thermal balloons, I'm impressed."
"Yeah, really. To think you can fly in the sky like this... Ancient technology was amazing."
"Having the high ground gives us an overwhelming advantage. We can spot the enemy instantly and strike however we want."
"Hey, we're almost over the target area. Get the magic ready."
The magi on the balloons were busy with their preparations when their voices suddenly froze in astonishment.
"H-hey, what is that?"
In the distance, a silver object glinted in the sunlight.
"Is it... made of metal?"
"How is something like that staying in the air...?"
As the Stealth field dropped and Pegasus 1 revealed its sleek, metallic hull, not a single soul among the enemy could mask their shock.