Facing off against the Unifilar thermal balloon unit, Jin issued his orders.
"Use the lasers to poke small holes in the envelopes."
In response, the fire-control core fired narrow laser beams. They struck the Unifilar thermal balloons with unerring precision.
"W-Whoa!"
The Unifilar members on board panicked. It was only natural; once a balloon was punctured, a long fall was the only thing that awaited them.
However, the narrow lasers did not slice the balloons open; they only poked small holes. Yet, those tiny punctures were more than enough to sap the balloons' lift.
"W-We're losing altitude!"
"Increase the flame!"
"It's no use! We're just going down!"
Unable to maintain altitude with holes in their envelopes, the ten thermal balloons began to descend very slowly. Seeing this, Jin decided it was enough.
"Alright, that’s plenty. Next is this."
He aimed his Paralyzer at the crews of the thermal balloons and fired.
"Guh!"
"Gyah!"
The crew members groaned briefly before falling unconscious. Even with the crews incapacitated, the thermal balloons continued their slow, steady descent. Because it was a controlled drop rather than a plummet, they would likely survive the landing.
＊ ＊ ＊
"How can this be..."
Elena stared blankly at the magi-screen, watching the scene unfold.
"Beyond magic, there are other powers in this world that must be understood and utilized."
She suddenly recalled the words Reinhard had once spoken to her.
"Powers other than magic... Is that what I’m seeing?"
Elena muttered bitterly, glaring at the silver flying object, Pegasus 1.
"Fine then! If that's how it's going to be, Universal Golems, deploy!"
The Universal Golems were highly autonomous units, with both their physical strength and magical capabilities reinforced by Elradrite. Two hundred of these machines were unleashed upon the battlefield.
＊ ＊ ＊
"Oh, another type of golem has appeared. I... recognize those."
They were the same model as the golem that had punched Jin away when he had grown overconfident during the rescue of Reinhard and Stearena Gamma.
"Those ones have decent specs. Land squad, be careful! New enemies have joined the fray. They likely utilize both brute strength and magic."
Jin's instructions were relayed to all his golems via Laojun.
The enemy forces now consisted of approximately one hundred remaining new combat golems and the two hundred Universal Golems. Perhaps learning from the battle so far, the Universal Golems scattered as they approached. Their movement speed was high, allowing many to evade the precision laser fire from the Raptor squad.
"Hmm, I see they’ve learned a thing or two. Now, how shall I handle this?"
Just then, a communication came in from Reiko.
"Father, please grant me permission for direct intervention."
After a moment's thought, Jin gave his consent.
"Alright, go ahead. But don't push yourself too hard. You have my permission to use up to 50% output at your own discretion."
"Yes!"
Answering firmly, Reiko kicked off the ground. She began her assault at 10% output.
Unsheathing the adamantite sword Touka, Reiko charged through the enemy golems faster than the breeze, despite the heavy magi-cannon she carried on her back.
The Universal Golems were armored in steel and built upon steel skeletons. No matter how much stronger adamantite was than steel, it still required significant force to cleave through it, yet Reiko's strength made it look effortless.
With the first swing she severed an arm; with the second, a head; and with the third, a torso. After slaughtering five golems in this fashion, Reiko paused.
"Cutting three times is inefficient."
Muttering to herself, she increased her output to 30%.
With her speed further increased, Reiko began to bisect the enemy golems vertically with a single stroke. She was a black gale of destruction. The only things left in her wake were the shattered remains of the enemy.
After cutting down roughly thirty enemy golems, Reiko felt the strain accumulating in the Touka.
"It would not be right to break the sword Father gave me."
She sheathed the Touka and instead took up the magi-cannon from her back. Made of magi-adamantite and measuring 1.5 meters in length, it was a ferocious weapon that doubled as a bludgeoning instrument.
Reiko gave it a single, powerful swing. The enemy golem she struck was sent tumbling through the air, its limbs half-torn away by the sheer shock of the impact.
"As I thought, this is much better!"
Some of the Universal Golems tried to catch the swinging magi-cannon with their hands, but the result remained the same. Given the limits of steel, no amount of Hardening magic could stop a mass of magi-adamantite being swung at ultra-high speed.
The physical strength boosted by Elradrite proved utterly meaningless. Swinging the magi-cannon left and right, Reiko rampaged across the battlefield as if she were walking through an empty field.
＊ ＊ ＊
"Wh-What on earth is that thing!?"
Elena’s voice was now a near-hysterical scream. The magi-screen she stared at so intently could barely track Reiko as she tore through the battlefield.
Clad in a black dress with a white apron, her black hair fluttering as she sowed destruction, she was truly the Jet-black Destruction Princess. Half of the Universal Golems had already been decimated by this single girl.
"Are you telling me Adriana created such an automata? I won't believe it! That's no automata! It's a monster—yes, a monster!"
To the trembling Elena, Donald—the newly appointed Chairman of Unifilar—spoke up.
"Elena, please calm down. We still have two hundred combat golems left, even if they are older models. Let us deploy them."
He then added a strategic observation.
"If those units are amplifying their strength with Elradrite, they should be running out of mana soon."
"You're right. Very well. Send them out!"
＊ ＊ ＊
"Oh, another wave of the same golems we saw at the start. I guess they're finally running out of pieces on the board."
Jin’s intuition was spot on.
"Alright, Land squad, focus primarily on the golems that just appeared. Don't get in Reiko's way."
He then considered his next move.
"Hmm, if I recall, the magical fiber used for Land's muscles was based on Ground Spider silk."
He reached a conclusion.
"Raptor squad, Falcon squad, listen up. Activate the Induction Radiators toward the battlefield. Ensure you do not radiate in Reiko's direction."
Then, to the ground units:
"Land squad, pay attention. We are activating the Induction Radiators. If your bodies feel like they are starting to overheat, withdraw immediately. The area around Reiko is a safe zone."
At Jin's command, the Induction Radiators were activated. This was a specialized application of lightning magic that generated induction currents in all metal, causing the metal to heat up and melt. It was impossible to target only the enemies with this effect; the Land squad would also be affected. That was why Jin had issued the warning.
(As a side note, unlike the electromagnetic waves often discussed on Earth, this magic had no harmful effects on the human body, as it was lightning magic rather than mere radiation.)
Upon receiving Jin's warning, the Land squad immediately withdrew from the fray as soon as they sensed their bodies beginning to heat up. Thanks to their quick reaction, there were no casualties among them.
However, the Unifilar old combat golems possessed low autonomy and were essentially incapable of making their own judgments. Consequently, they remained on the battlefield even as their steel bodies began to glow red-hot.
＊ ＊ ＊
"The golems are heating up!? Why? Why is this happening!?"
The phenomenon was identical to what had occurred during the battle between the armies of the Kingdom of Franz and the Klein Kingdom, but Jules—the only one who could have explained it—was no longer in any condition to speak.
The Ground Spider silk used in the Land squad's muscles and Reiko's clothes could withstand heat up to 1,000 degrees. However, the muscle tissue of the Unifilar old combat golems could not endure even 300 degrees.
The temperature of steel glowing bright red is approximately 700 degrees. Once they reached that point, the muscle tissue of the old combat golems simply burned away, leaving them unable to move.
They collapsed where they stood, were heated further, and ultimately turned into nothing more than formless lumps of metal. Since the control cores were made of magi-crystal, which has a very high melting point, they remained intact, but they were useless once their host bodies had liquefied.
The golems that had already been destroyed met the same fate, leaving the battlefield littered with mounds of melted and solidified iron.