"Who... Who are you?"
Seeing the golems who had saved her and were currently slaughtering the Gigantoavrums, Gloria found herself addressing them with the formal courtesy she would show a fellow human.
"We are a golem squad dispatched by Deus Ex Machina-sama," Land 11 replied on the group's behalf.
"From Maquina-dono?"
"...We’re saved!"
By then, every one of the eight Gigantoavrums had been cut down. Several of the soldiers seemed to recognize the name Maquina, and they collapsed where they stood with audible sighs of relief.
"You people are extraordinary... How dare you do that to my precious Gigantoavrums!"
Land units 12 through 19—eight in total—surrounded the fuming demon girl, Arshel. There was no escape. They kept a distance of about two meters, maintaining barriers to keep her pinned. Since they did not yet know the full extent of her abilities, they avoided direct contact. With the eight barriers overlapping, there wasn't a single gap for her to slip through.
"If you remain quiet, we will not harm you."
"Don't mock me! 'Divieniunschiavo'!"
Arshel unleashed her Master-Slave Magic. However, it had no effect on the Land units, whose internal systems had already been reinforced against such spells.
Land 11, acting as the leader of the dispatch squad, spoke to Arshel.
"That magic is ineffective. However, it would be troublesome if you used 'Distruzione' or 'gravita.' Activating Magi-Jammer."
The Land units' own barriers were also neutralized by the jammer, but that was of little consequence. Arshel was now a rat in a trap.
"How do you even know about my magic?! Ugh, 'gravita'!"
Arshel desperately tried to chant her Gravity Magic, but nothing happened.
"W-Why? How? What did you do?!"
Even the arrogant Arshel was flustered by this development.
"We are under no obligation to answer. Rather, we shall have you answer our questions."
"As if I'd ever just obediently tell you anything!"
"In that case, we have other methods."
Facing Arshel, Land 11 extended his right hand, intending to cast 'Paralyze.' He could have simply knocked her unconscious with a physical strike, but he had decided against it this time. Given her appearance as a young girl and the fact that 'Androgias' had easily turned to ash during their last encounter, he suspected the demon race might not possess much physical durability.
He decided on 'Paralyze,' but in hindsight, it proved to be a mistake.
In principle, it was impossible to activate other magic simultaneously with the Magi-Jammer. In the brief instant Land 11 deactivated the jammer to cast his spell, Arshel—who had been surrounded by the eight Land units—vanished. It appeared she had been desperately and continuously attempting to trigger Teleportation Magic in her frantic bid to escape.
The moment the Magi-Jammer cut out, her Teleportation Magic finally activated. Arshel reappeared about five meters behind the Land units. Before the golems could re-target her, the demon girl triggered her magic again.
She vanished completely from their sight.
"...She got away," Land 11 muttered regretfully.
He slowly turned back toward Gloria and her group. Recognizing Land 11 as the leader, Gloria spoke.
"I... I am Gloria Allstatt, Vice-captain of the Klein Kingdom Female Ritter Order. I thank you for your assistance." She bowed her head and expressed her gratitude.
"No, we merely followed Maquina-sama's instructions....You are injured."
But Gloria shook her head. "No, there is someone more seriously injured than I." She looked toward the soldier who had been sent flying by the Gigantoavrum earlier.
However, that soldier was already being treated by Nurse Alpha.
"Ah... Is that golem also one of Maquina-dono's?"
"Yes, she is called Nurse Alpha. She is a medical specialist."
"Maquina-dono truly is an extraordinary person..."
Watching Nurse Alpha work, Gloria murmured to herself, "...Elsa-dono?"
Laojun, who was receiving information in real-time from Land 11, realized he had made a mistake by showing the Elsa-lookalike Nurse Alpha to Gloria. He immediately prepared an excuse.
"Yes, she was apparently modeled after Elsa-sama, who was previously under our protection."
"Hmm, I see. Well, it's not my place to pry." Gloria seemed satisfied with the explanation. It likely helped that she was a straightforward person by nature.
"Treatment is complete. Only Gloria-san remains." Having finished treating the injured soldier, Nurse Alpha walked over.
"O-Oh, I see. I leave it to you."
"'Sterilization.' 'Heilung.'"
The golem sterilized the wounds and then applied healing magic. Under the influence of the spells, the injuries on Gloria's arms, shoulders, and cheeks were mended.
"Oh, amazing! It doesn't hurt anymore! My thanks." Gloria offered a knight's salute.
"We shall take our leave now. Please take care on your journey."
"Please give Maquina-dono my regards. Tell him I wish to meet him someday."
"Yes, I shall convey that."
Gloria and her soldiers, having reformed their ranks, saluted the Land squad. Then Gloria gave the order. "Depart!"
As the group continued down the road toward Doppa, the looks the soldiers gave Gloria were now tinged with respect. After all, she had stood her ground against such monsters and fought to protect them.
The Land squad watched them go. Once the humans were out of sight, the golems began their own return journey. Waiting for them slightly closer to Rakuno, away from the highway, was Pelican 1, which was equipped with a Warp Gate. Naturally, Pelican 1 continued to watch over Gloria's group from the sky until they safely reached Doppa.
＊ ＊ ＊
"So Gloria is safe."
Jin and Elsa, who had been following the battle through Laojun, breathed a sigh of relief.
"This demon referred to herself as 'Arshel the Puppet.' She looks like a girl, but there's no telling how old she actually is," Laojun reported.
"True."
"It is a pity we let her escape. Even so, we managed to obtain some information regarding the Teleportation Magic they use, albeit just a fraction. I would consider this a stroke of good fortune."
Teleportation Magic was, fundamentally, impossible to defend against. If someone were to teleport onto Hourai Island and destroy Laojun, the damage would be immeasurable. Furthermore, the more information they had on hostile forces, the better. Jin waited for Laojun's explanation.
"First, regarding the destination, it appears they can only teleport to a place within their line of sight or to a specific, known location."
This was information obtained by units Land 12 through 15 during a split-second 'Inspection.' It had happened during the moment Land 11 cut the Magi-Jammer to paralyze Arshel. Laojun had been craving information on the demons' magic and had instructed the Land units to gather even the smallest detail. Because of those instructions, they had used 'Inspection' to see how the demon would react to 'Paralyze.' As a result, they had sensed the flow of magical energy accompanying the activation of Teleportation Magic.
"I see. So for now, we don't have to worry about them launching a direct invasion of Hourai Island?"
"Yes, My Lord."
It was clear it couldn't be used like a long-range transporter. Jin felt that while there was no immediate danger, they couldn't afford to be complacent.
"I've been focusing on developing weapons, but I suppose we need to bolster our defenses as well."
"Jin-nii, aren't barriers enough?" Elsa asked.
"Yeah. They have a few drawbacks."
"Drawbacks?"
"Mm. There are Magic Barriers and Solid Barriers, right?"
"Nn."
"Basically, Magic Barriers don't let mana through, and Solid Barriers block things like fire, impacts, or swords."
But at the same time, you can't attack from the inside either, Jin concluded.
"The only exception is when you use an attack spell simultaneously from the same magic tool generating the barrier, like my bracelet. Because they're perfectly synchronized, I can deactivate the barrier only at the point where I'm firing a laser, for example."
However, normally, a barrier and an attack spell are generated separately, so if you have a barrier up, you can't attack through it.
"You can't fire a magi-cannon or anything like that."
"I see."
"In that sense, there's room for improvement with barriers."
"...I understand. As expected of Jin-nii."
"There are other kinds of barriers I'm wondering if I can make."
A barrier was just one variation of a boundary field. Jin listed ideas such as a field that absorbed magic, one that reflected attacks, or even one that teleported attacks away.
"...Amazing. To come up with such ideas... Jin-nii is a genius."
"No, I'm just using concepts I've heard elsewhere."
Faced with Elsa's praise, Jin honestly confessed that he had read about them in books. To be precise, that included manga and anime from his original world.
"...The people from Jin-nii's world are amazing."
"Yeah, their power of imagination might be incredible."
More than just imagination, their capacity for wild flights of fancy might be the best in the world, Jin thought as he nostalgically remembered his home country, Japan.