"You... how did you get in here?! What did you do with the golems?!"
"Oh, those oversized puppets? They’re scrap metal in the hallway now. Right, Reiko?"
"Yes, Father."
Reiko hurled a massive block of iron through the open doorway. Delight scrambled to get out of the way, watching in horror as the object rolled across the floor with a heavy metallic thud.
"What?!"
It was the head of a golem—the same model as Gren.
"You... how did you destroy it?!"
"How, you ask? Well, Reiko?"
"Yes. It was not something I feel compelled to explain."
"...What?"
At that moment, Princess Lieschen spoke up.
"Listen, Delight, it is over. I have heard every word you said. Now that Jin has made his move, you have no hope of victory. Surrender and confess your crimes with grace."
But Delight was far past the point of listening.
"Silence! I have come too far to stop now. Leker! Prepare for extraction! Gren! Capture that woman!"
The general-purpose model, Leker, smashed through the window and leaped onto the balcony. A hot air balloon had apparently been hidden there inside a large wooden crate.
Meanwhile, the heavy-duty golem Gren pulverized the table Elsa had been using as a shield and lunged toward her. It clearly intended to take her hostage.
But Edgar stepped in to block its path.
"...Edgar..."
"Elsa-sama, please leave this to me."
"Okay."
Edgar didn't dodge; he caught Gren’s strike head-on. If he had moved, there was a high probability the blow would have struck Elsa.
"Edgar, are you alright?"
"Yes."
＊ ＊ ＊
Near the doorway, Delight was being pinned down by Reiko.
"Give it up. I won't let you escape."
"Grah! I still have cards to play! Lactor! Kisar! Claro!"
"W-Whoa!...J-Jin!"
Princess Lieschen cried out in alarm.
In response to Delight's command, three more heavy-duty golems—no, combat golems—burst through the wall of the adjacent room.
"Kill them all!"
Delight’s orders were a desperate, scorched-earth decree. The three golems lunged forward at once.
"Watch out, Father."
As one of the golems swung its fist toward Jin and the princess, Reiko threw herself between them and the machine. This gave Delight an opening to break free. He scrambled toward the window, aiming to leap onto the balcony.
"Don't let him get away!"
"Gyah?!"
Responding to Jin's shout, a member of the Secret Mobile Unit (SP), still cloaked in invisibility, blasted the minister with a Stun spell. Delight tumbled across the floor and went limp.
However, the combat golems did not stop.
"Reiko, we’re inside the Royal Castle! Don't do anything too destructive!"
"Understood."
There were knights and maids on the floors below. If the floor collapsed, they could be seriously injured. Jin’s warning was practical, showing he was more composed in this situation than Elsa.
For Reiko, the easiest solution would have been to draw Touka and slice them to ribbons, but weapons had not been permitted inside the castle walls.
The combat golems, meanwhile, showed no such restraint, attacking Jin and his companions with everything they had.
But a handicap of that level meant nothing to Reiko. If anything, she was simply trying to decide which method was most appropriate.
(The transporter gun... I shouldn't use that in front of witnesses. A laser... is too flashy. Induction... takes a bit too long.)
Reiko weighed these options in the span of roughly 0.2 seconds.
She reached a conclusion.
"Magic Canceller."
It was a weapon that forcibly reverted mana back into free ether. Despite its devastating efficacy against magical constructs, the effect was almost invisible to the naked eye.
These golems lacked both a magi reactor and even an ether converter. Once the mana stored in their mana tanks was neutralized, they ceased to function.
"Father, let’s remove their control cores."
"Good job, Reiko."
With the three combat golems immobilized, they were little more than statues. Jin worked with practiced speed, extracting the control cores from all three in the blink of an eye.
"..."
Princess Lieschen stood frozen, unable to comprehend what had just happened or how Reiko had neutralized the machines so effortlessly.
＊ ＊ ＊
Meanwhile, the upgraded and reinforced Edgar was proving that a fivefold difference in size meant nothing.
He didn't just catch Gren’s fist; he stepped into the golem's guard and delivered a powerful front kick.
Because he aimed the kick slightly upward, he managed to lift the opponent off the ground despite the weight difference, successfully knocking it over.
However, Elsa's face turned pale as she saw the stone floor crack under the impact.
"E-Edgar, be careful! The floor might give way!"
"Y-Yes."
Gren likely weighed nearly 500 kilograms. It was entirely possible for the golem to fall through the floor.
Edgar immediately shifted his tactics.
He drew a specialized knife crafted from the shell of a Gigant Peeder—a material capable of slicing through steel.
Thrown with Edgar’s immense strength, the blades easily pierced Gren's armor. Two of them shattered the magi-crystals responsible for its vision. The golem's movements, already sluggish, became even more erratic.
Seizing the opening, Edgar used his remaining knife to slice through Gren's chest armor.
The iron plate hit the floor with a heavy clang, causing the cracks in the stone to spread further.
But the fight was over.
With its armor stripped away, Gren's internal magi-devices were exposed. Edgar reached in, snatched out the control core, and the golem went completely still.
"Elsa-sama, it is finished."
"...Edgar, thank you....Toughening. Fusion."
Elsa immediately reinforced the damaged section of the floor and fused the cracks back together.
"...Phew. Safe at last."
"Elsa!"
Just as Elsa let out a sigh of relief, someone suddenly pulled her into a tight embrace.
She stiffened for a moment, but as soon as she realized it was Jin, her face flushed a brilliant crimson.
"A-Ah... Big Brother... Jin?"
"Are you safe? Are you hurt? Did he do anything to you?"
"...N-No, I'm okay."
"I see... Thank goodness."
Despite his words, Jin didn't let go. He kept her pulled close.
"...Big Brother Jin, it’s... a little hard to breathe."
Being squeezed by Jin’s current body, which was magically reinforced, was actually quite painful.
"S-Sorry!"
Jin released her in a panic. His own face was now beet-red.
"...Ah."
Freed from his arms, Elsa felt relieved to be able to breathe, but she also felt a sudden, sharp pang of disappointment as his warmth vanished.
"Jin, the golem is getting away!"
Flustered as they were, Jin and Elsa were snapped back to reality by Lieschen’s voice.
On the balcony, the hot air balloon was just beginning its ascent.