Faced with the beings the demons called "Angiras"—though to Jin, they looked like nothing more than gargoyles—most of the demons present stood paralyzed with fear.
"What is wrong with everyone?" Jin asked through his Body Double, his voice tinged with bewilderment.
Beside him, Bafrosk of the Jest clan answered in a strained, raspy voice.
"...Those are the messengers of heaven from our legends—the Angiras. As you can see from the way they take to the skies, their power is absolute. To think we would find ourselves facing the Angiras..."
The clan chief’s face was noticeably pale. Jin couldn't help but marvel that even the mighty Bafrosk was shaken, though he supposed that was to be expected when someone was suddenly confronted by a figure of legend.
Before he knew it, every demon in the courtyard had dropped to the ground, cowering.
The only ones left standing were Jin’s Double, Reiko, and Anne—though ten units of the Land squad were also present, hidden from view by their Invisible status.
『Do you not feel fear?』
The black gargoyle that had landed last addressed the Double.
"No. Why should I be afraid of mere golems with wings?"
『Foolish creature.』
Jin knew exactly what he was looking at: golems being powered by an excessive amount of mana. The only thing he needed to be wary of was what kind of auxiliary functions they might possess.
At the same time, he realized this was the perfect opportunity to snap the radical factions out of their delusions. He decided to commit the full strength of the forces he currently had stationed in the demon territory.
"Land squad! Prepare to engage!"
At his command, the Army golems—Land 11 through 20—deactivated their Invisible cloaks and materialized.
『Hmph... So you intend to resist to the end?』
Being a construct, the gargoyle's expression remained static, but its voice was thick with venom.
『Do not come to regret this.』
"Go!"
Ignoring No. 13's posturing, Jin issued the order to attack.
It was ten Army golems against fifty gargoyles. Meanwhile, Reiko and Anne focused on clearing the area.
"Wh-Waaaaah!"
"Whoaaaa!"
Finding it a chore to handle them individually, Anne simply tossed the cowering demons aside like sacks of flour, while Reiko caught them and shuttled them into the safety of the building. The demons, their spirits completely broken by the sight of the "angels," remained as docile as lambs—a far cry from their usual radical personas.
In the meantime, the Lands and the gargoyles clashed.
The Lands were armed with vibration swords. A single strike was enough to cleave an enemy gargoyle clean in two. In the initial collision, ten gargoyles were rendered inoperable. By contrast, the Lands remained unscathed.
The two groups crossed paths once more, and the enemy's losses rose to twenty.
"...As I thought. They’re 'Forming' types."
"Forming type" was the term Jin used for constructs like Stone Golems, which were animated by an advanced application of Forming magic. Their inherent inefficiency meant they were only viable in environments saturated with free ether, such as the demon territory.
『...Grrr, how insolent!』
The black gargoyle speaking with No. 13's voice let out a cry of pure frustration. He was likely the commander of the unit.
From inside the building, the radical demons watched the battle in the courtyard with slack-jawed amazement. The legendary Angiras they so dreaded were being dismantled without the slightest effort.
However, thirty gargoyles still remained. No. 13 detached ten of them to take separate action. Their target was obvious: the demons who had been evacuated.
"Reiko! Anne!"
Jin’s instructions snapped out.
"Yes, Father."
"Yes, Master."
Reiko brandished Touka, and Anne swung her vibration sword as they intercepted the flanking gargoyles. In a flash, Reiko had cut down six and Anne four.
"...! That's... from that time...!"
The voice came from Dogmaralud of the Ash clan.
"Dogmaralud, do you know her?" Bafrosk asked.
"I do, Father-in-law. Quite well. That small one is the automata who withstood Laldus's gravity magic and knocked him senseless."
"What?! Laldus fought that automata?" Bafrosk, the Jest Clan Chief, interjected. "...Laldus's gravity magic is unrivaled even within our clan. You are saying she resisted it?"
"She did. And while he was empowered by Elradrite, no less. That small one didn't even flinch!"
"Incredible!"
The demons understood the implications perfectly. Knowing the sheer weight of Laldus's magic, they finally grasped just how monstrously powerful Reiko truly was.
By the time they finished speaking, Reiko and the Lands had finished off the rest. Now, every construct save for the black gargoyle had been silenced. The leader remained floating in the air about five meters up—just out of reach of their blades—observing the carnage.
"You're the only one left," Jin’s Double said.
The black gargoyle reached out and produced a magi-crystal from somewhere.
『...I will concede that you are strong. But do not think for a moment that this is over.』
He threw the magi-crystal toward the ground.
"Transfer!"
Reiko didn't wait to see what the crystal would do. She aimed her transporter gun and warped the object far into the distance before it could even hit the pavement.
『Wh-What?!』
"I don't know what you were planning, but I'm not about to let you do it," Jin said.
『...』
For the first time, a sense of genuine panic radiated from the black gargoyle.
『You... who are you?』
"I am the Magi Craft Meister, Jin Nidou."
『Magi Craft Meister?』
"That's right. You might not be aware, but humanity is capable of progress."
While he spoke, Jin was biding his time, waiting for Laojun to finish his preparations. No. 13 wasn't physically present; he was clearly controlling this black gargoyle via remote operation from a distant base. Jin kept the conversation going to gather as much information as possible.
『Don't tell me... were you the ones who defeated No. 001?』
"Oh, so you know what happened to No. 001."
Jin’s response was deliberately provocative. As he expected, No. 13 took the bait.
『It was you...! I will not let the destruction of my comrade go unavenged! Die as you are scoured by the loss of your free ether!』
"Magic Canceller, activate!"
Deducing from No. 13's words that an Ether Stampede was imminent, Laojun triggered the Magic Canceller from Pegasus 1, which was hovering high above the settlement. Almost simultaneously, Reiko activated the Magic Canceller built into her own bracelet.
『Wha... t... i... s... thi... s...』
No. 13's voice stuttered and faded until it vanished entirely. The black gargoyle slumped, its knees hitting the ground as it collapsed. The first encounter with No. 13 was over.
"That went well."
The waves from the Magic Canceller neutralized the mana lines of the burgeoning Ether Stampede, preventing any damage to the surrounding area. Furthermore, the pulse had completely jammed the gargoyle’s internal systems.
They continued the irradiation for several dozen seconds. Any mana lines that might have triggered a stampede had long since dissipated.
"Good. Reiko, just to be safe, activate your Magi-Jammer. Once that's up, Pegasus 1, cease irradiation."
Reiko engaged her Magi-Jammer, and Pegasus 1 cut its beam. By timing it this way, the jammer would take over the moment the satellite beam stopped. Under these conditions, Jin and his Hourai Island forces could still use magic while the enemy remained suppressed.
"Alright, let's take this thing apart."
With Reiko standing guard, Jin’s Double slowly began to dismantle and analyze the black gargoyle.
"...Hmph. Nothing particularly new in here..."
As he had suspected, it was a simple remote-controlled shell.
"Definitely a Forming type."
It lacked any muscle tissue or skeletal structure, confirming his theory.
"...This is the control core, and this is the magi reactor."
Like the other enemy constructs, this gargoyle used a magi reactor rather than the converter-and-driver setup Jin preferred.
"But this design... ah, so that's how they did it."
Instead of the twin-crystal magi-crystals Jin had perfected, this unit utilized a long, columnar crystal with magi-formulas etched onto both ends.
"Even with the high ambient ether, I doubt this reaches ninety percent efficiency," Jin muttered to himself as he delved deeper into the machine’s secrets.