Fort Crow, the magifortress. Magi-technician Dajure Harvey had been working tirelessly, sacrificing even his sleep, to bring the magi-brain that controlled the structure under his command.
At last, he reached what he dubbed the "final hurdle."
"This is it... Heh, heh, heh... This is the final hurdle!"
Whether from the consecutive all-nighters or sheer obsession, his excitement had reached an erratic, almost unhinged level.
His eyes bloodshot, Dajure Harvey pressed on with his work.
Meanwhile, the other magi-technician, Bocker Ove, was just as busy.
As a confidant of the former Duke Orange, he was laboring over the repairs of Refa, the magifortress’s strategic assistant automata.
"There. That completes the first stage."
While they lacked the technology to perfectly restore an automata from the Great Magic War, Bocker and his subordinates had managed to get her to a state where she could perform daily movements.
"...However, I still have no idea what's going on inside these black boxes. I can't afford to force it right now."
The components he called black boxes were the ether converter and the mana driver.
These two were now lost technologies; their principles and even their existence had been forgotten for ages. Furthermore, they were impossible to manufacture without the incredibly delicate and precise technique of "Write In."
Most of the technicians stationed at Fort Crow were unskilled in such precision work. Consequently, the ether converter and mana driver were treated as black boxes—designated as magi-devices that were not to be tampered with for the time being.
Dajure Harvey had reached the same conclusion. In short, the ether converter and mana driver were pieces of equipment far beyond the reach of modern technicians.
Nevertheless, Dajure and Bocker had managed to do just enough to get the magifortress operational.
"I see. Good work. Heh, heh, heh... Finally, Fort Crow will be able to show its true power!"
Lufort de Orange smirked when he received the report.
Meanwhile, the Partisans surrounding the fort from a distance—now officially known as the Kingdom Army Detachment—had not been sitting idly by.
In addition to the former southeastern branch of the Partisans, 2,000 men from the Kingdom Army's main force had arrived. They were also joined by an unexpected ally: Nostalgia. This was the organization that had been reorganized with peaceful intentions after the anti-social group Unifilar was dismantled by Jin.
A total of 2,500 soldiers now encircled Fort Crow.
"There is no movement," remarked Chiharad Sauto, a technician sent from Nostalgia to provide support.
"Indeed. We don't know how much food they have stored, but the more time passes, the more the disadvantage lies with them."
The Kingdom Army marshal, Legon de Carter, replied while training his blue eyes on the distant outer walls of the fortress.
"That said, I am aware that taking too much time will lead to complications."
If they stalled too long, the Kingdom Army's military might would be questioned. Above all, they could not offer an official apology to other nations without first apprehending the traitor Orange.
"We will likely commence combat operations soon."
At Marshal Carter’s words, Chiharad offered a word of caution.
"But we are dealing with a magifortress. We must not be careless."
Information about the fort’s capabilities had been relayed to them under the name of Maquina.
"Hmph, a magifortress... It's a relic of the Great Magic War, but we still don't know the full extent of its power. Until we do, we cannot launch a reckless assault."
It was a sound judgment. Marshal Carter was a man of reason.
Then, good news arrived: the siege weapons had reached the front lines.
There were ballistas, battering rams, and siege ladders. In addition, Nostalgia had provided twenty combat golems.
"Good. Now we can issue a formal demand for surrender."
Marshal Carter knew that demanding a fort open its gates without a display of sufficient military force was a waste of breath. To convince the enemy that a siege would be futile, he needed to demonstrate the power of the attacking side.
"First, we will conduct long-range strikes."
They would use the ballistas crafted by Nostalgia.
These weapons were shaped like giant crossbows, partially constructed from metal. The bow section measured approximately ten meters across, capable of launching both stones and specialized bolts.
The models previously used by Unifilar could launch 200kg rocks, but these were semi-fixed versions designed with mobility in mind, making them slightly smaller. They could launch a 50kg rock roughly 50 meters, or a 20kg stone 100 meters.
Their true strength lay in the bolts tipped with steel or adamantite. These possessed a penetrating power that rivaled or even surpassed a battering ram.
They decided to begin by firing 20kg rocks—each roughly the size of a basketball. Since the nature of the weapon made precision shooting impossible, they took general aim.
"Target: Fort Crow. Ready... Fire!"
The second battle for the fortress began.
Around the same time, the Orange side was also finishing its combat preparations.
"We should activate the physical barrier," Refa, the assistant automata, advised.
"Very well, do it."
With the discovery and reactivation of the repair golems a few days prior, eighty to ninety percent of the fort's functions had been restored. Orange felt it was a pity they couldn't reach one hundred percent due to a lack of materials, but he was satisfied.
Two hours later, the Kingdom Army Detachment’s attack commenced.
"Ho, a catapult... no, a ballista? The enemy is quite capable, aren't they?"
Watching a rock larger than a human head fly toward them only to shatter against the physical barrier, Orange beamed with satisfaction at the fortress's defensive power.
"The rock shattered in mid-air?! A physical barrier!"
Marshal Carter’s eyes widened in shock as he saw the stone disintegrate about ten meters in front of the fort.
However, Chiharad from Nostalgia did not waver.
"All ballistas, engage! Sequential fire, starting from Number One!"
The five ballistas began firing in order. With a reload time of roughly two minutes per unit, they could launch a rock every twenty-four seconds.
"No matter how powerful a barrier is, it should collapse if subjected to excessive stress!"
Chiharad’s logic was sound. The problem was that they had no idea how much force was required to overload it.
The fort’s barrier repelled over a dozen rocks without so much as a flicker.
"Grr... but as long as that barrier is active, they shouldn't be able to strike back at us either. Fine! Battering ram, attack!"
Unlike the ballistas, the battering ram required the soldiers to close the distance. Since there was no concern about receiving return fire from the fort, now was the perfect opportunity.
The battering ram provided by Nostalgia was a pendulum-style unit that swung a heavy log, much like the striker used to ring a temple bell. The tip of the log was reinforced with iron, and the entire pendulum was suspended from a tower mounted on wheels.
Marshal Carter was deeply impressed by the mechanism, as it was his first time seeing such a design.
"Hmph, Nostalgia possesses advanced technology indeed."
While he felt a slight sense of professional apprehension toward their sophistication, he reminded himself that there was a much larger threat right in front of them.
Golems pushed the wheeled tower forward at a speed impossible for humans, bringing the ram toward the outer wall. However, they were forced to stop about three meters short. The physical barrier blocked their path.
"Good, right there! Put everything you have into that barrier!" Chiharad commanded.
He judged that breaking the barrier was the absolute first priority.
The golems drove stakes into the ground to fix the tower in place.
"Battering ram, strike!"
The log was pulled back to its limit and then released. It let out a roar as it hurtled into the barrier.
Yet, the barrier did not budge.
"What now, Master Chiharad?"
Marshal Carter frowned at the result.
"In that case, we will coordinate the impacts. We'll have all five ballistas strike at the exact moment the battering ram hits."
Concluding that continuous stress wasn't enough, Chiharad chose to maximize the impact by concentrating all their firepower into a single moment.
"Ready the weapons... On my mark! Five, four, three, two, one, fire!"
"...Now! Battering ram, strike!"
Five rocks collided with the physical barrier in the air at the same instant the battering ram slammed into it.
The siege of Fort Crow was only just beginning.