"Incredible... He truly is the Lord of Kunlun."
King Cesar had believed he understood the extent of Jin's power from his time on Kunlun Island, but witnessing the overwhelming suppression—an act bordering on absolute carnage—he was forced to reconsider.
"It is a blessing for us all that Jin-dono harbors no ambition for world conquest," First Military Minister Lagede agreed, his voice heavy with sincerity.
"That cloud of dust rising in the distance... that would be Lady Reiko, I presume," Kirk-at murmured, shielding his eyes from the glare.
"Guh! That Lord of Kunlun! To think he kept such immense power hidden away!"
Jix stared as if witnessing the impossible. The Dull-colored Golems he had dispatched in all four directions were being neutralized in the blink of an eye. Even the two units guarding him and Gunno were being overpowered by the Golem Maids; they had no protection left.
Escape was impossible. Surrounded by the Five-Colored Golem Maids, they were completely checkmated.
"Jix, Gunno. This is what true 'power' looks like. Yet the Lord of Kunlun does not brandish it recklessly."
King Cesar called out to them, but his words fell on deaf ears.
"I can understand your frustration to some extent. But if you seek revenge, adopt a broader perspective. Aim for a goal like 'eradicating war from the world'."
"Shut up!"
"Stay back!"
In their hysterical state, the two refused to listen to reason.
"...Your Majesty."
Seeing that words were futile, Jin's Doppel gave a silent signal to the Golem Maids to apprehend them.
"Damn it... Gunno, activate the final golem!"
"Understood, brother. 'Awaken'!"
In response to that keyword, a single golem emerged from the carriage.
"There was still one left?"
"Heh, that's right. This is our trump card."
It appeared this golem had been stored inside the largest barrel. When it leapt from the carriage, a slight tremor shook the earth—proof of its staggering weight. Yet its physique was a size smaller than the others, standing at about 1.8 meters tall.
＊ ＊ ＊
In the command room of Hourai Island, Jin was observing the unit.
"So this is the one... the unit that challenged the security golems back in the Kingdom of Egerea!"
Jin surmised that the interior of the full-body armor was not hollow, but rather filled with fluid metal.
"There are plenty of ways to disable it, but..."
Jin felt that bringing those two back to their senses would be impossible regardless of his actions.
"Jin-nii, those two... their behavior is just like Father's was."
Elsa, watching the magi-screen beside him, suddenly spoke up.
"I think they might be suffering from some kind of brain impairment."
In the past, Elsa's father, Viscount Georg Randol, had developed a hematoma in his frontal lobe due to a cerebral hemorrhage. The pressure on his brain cells had stripped him of his emotional control. Elsa saw the same instability in Jix and Gunno.
"Ah, I see... That’s a plausible theory. Once we capture them, we should perform a medical examination."
"Mm."
Even the Doppel was capable of performing a high-level diagnosis.
"But first, we need to neutralize that golem. If it's filled with fluid metal... I should probably avoid using heat."
"Jin-nii, why is that?"
"Eh? Ah, the heat? Think about it. For example, the melting point of mercury is approximately minus 39 degrees Celsius, but its boiling point is 357 degrees."
"...Evaporation?"
"Exactly. Heat should be that golem's greatest weakness, but... wait!?"
Jin's expression suddenly turned grim.
"Mercury... vapors... toxicity..."
Hearing his muttering, Elsa realized what he had deduced.
"You mean mercury has accumulated in their brains!?"
"...Yes. Fluid metal might not be exactly the same as mercury, so the symptoms might differ, but the logic holds."
In Jin's hazy memory, he could only recall a pollution-related illness from his old world—methylmercury poisoning—but he knew for certain that mercury was highly toxic to the human body. It wouldn't be surprising if fluid metal caused similar neurological damage.
"Hmm, if that's the case, how should we disable it..."
If the head were severed like the others, the fluid metal would likely spill out. Since he didn't know the extent of its toxicity, Jin wanted to avoid letting it soak into the ground.
"In that case... I'll do the opposite!"
＊ ＊ ＊
Acting on Jin's instructions, Reiko lunged forward.
The two units collided head-on. Reiko was knocked back significantly; the blunt test of strength ended in the enemy golem's victory.
"...As expected, the interior of that armor is filled with fluid metal."
Reiko had intentionally allowed the collision to gauge the opponent's mass.
(Now, to execute Father's plan...)
The enemy golem charged at the reeling Reiko.
"Lord of Kunlun! Is Lady Reiko all right?" King Cesar asked, worry etched on his face.
However, Jin's Doppel remained composed. "She's fine. That was part of the plan."
Indeed, while measuring the enemy's weight, she had simultaneously lured it away from Jin and the others. This was, of course...
"Absolute Zero!"
...so that the specifics of her magic would remain a secret.
Absolute Zero was a spell that stripped a target of its thermal energy—it was a form of extreme cooling. The melting point of mercury is roughly minus 39 degrees Celsius; below that, it solidifies. When cooled to near absolute zero, the fluid metal could no longer remain a fluid.
The final enemy golem froze in its tracks, completely immobilized.
＊ ＊ ＊
"Biological materials are superior in this regard as well."
Jin thought of the Ancient Dragon's shed skin he had worked so hard to acquire. Subsequent testing had proven its cold resistance reached approximately minus 270 degrees Celsius when Reinforced with mana. Furthermore, it was an incredible material with heat resistance exceeding 3000 degrees.
For comparison, the thread from the ground spiders of Hourai Island could withstand minus 210 degrees—well below the minus 196 degrees of liquid nitrogen—and had a heat resistance of 1600 degrees.
Even adamantite had a melting point of 3422 degrees.
In short, a golem relying on fluid metal was far inferior to Reiko when faced with extreme temperatures.
"Well, that's the end of that."
On the magi-screen, Jin watched as the Five-Colored Golem Maids pinned Jix and Gunno to the ground.