"What did you say?"
On Hourai Island, Jin had just received an emergency report from Laojun.
"We've lost contact with the Shouro Empire?"
"Yes, My Lord. This is a grave situation. Communication with the mansion in Loizart remains severed, and the Warp Gate is non-functional."
"What on earth happened?"
"According to the information gathered immediately prior to the blackout, an unidentified flying object flew over Loizart early this morning and dropped something into Lake Tosmo. That is all we know for certain."
"There's too little to go on. What about the Quinta?"
"Yes, we have received no contact whatsoever from any of the units stationed in or around Loizart."
"Hmm..." Jin fell into deep thought. "...Do you think it's an attack from Onogoro Island?"
"Yes. Regardless of whether they themselves recognize it as an 'attack' or not."
Jin understood Laojun's point. Their mentality seemed to differ significantly from that of Ars humanity, making their intentions hard to gauge.
"Whether it's an attack or something else, we can't just ignore it."
"Indeed."
Elsa arrived at that moment, having overheard the tension. "...What happened?"
Jin honestly admitted that they didn't know the full story yet.
"Elsa-sama, I am currently issuing instructions to the Quinta stationed elsewhere in the Shouro Empire to head toward Loizart," Laojun explained.
The Quinta units located far from the capital had reported that everything was normal in their respective areas.
"I have instructed them to move in pairs rather than alone. In a few dozen minutes, the closest pair—Regulus 9, known as 'Glow,' and Mira 11, known as 'Marju'—will arrive."
Regulus 9 was responsible for the area near Mont, a key point on the highway, while Mira 11 was near Lake Wasu.
"Additionally, another pair, Mira 5 and 6—known as 'Rie' and 'Lucile'—are rushing there from Ino and Pente."
"I understand. Tell them to be careful," Jin said.
After three minutes of tense waiting...
"My Lord, Glow and Marju have arrived in Shubere. I am having them approach Loizart while staying slightly off the main highway."
"Right."
However, five minutes later, the report changed.
"My Lord, contact with Glow and Marju has been lost."
"What!?"
"Monitoring them via the Watcher, it appears they came to a sudden halt just after passing the town of Riale."
"A halt?"
"Yes. Without any apparent sign of attack, they simply collapsed and stopped moving."
Jin analyzed the situation. "The most likely possibility is energy depletion."
"Yes. I have reached the same conclusion."
"In that case, give Rie and Lucile even stricter warnings."
"Understood."
Since they were already on the move, Jin decided to have them use the same route to confirm the anomaly.
"I intend to have the two of them tethered together with a rope roughly ten meters long. They will approach Loizart with a significant gap between them."
"Yeah, that's a good idea," Jin agreed.
By doing so, even if the lead unit lost power, the trailing unit could pull them back to safety with the rope.
"If there really is a lack of free ether, it seems the boundary is quite distinct," Jin noted.
This was evident from the suddenness with which Glow and Marju had deactivated. It wasn't as if the free ether had gradually thinned out.
"And it's probably not just a simple lack of free ether, either."
The current forces of Hourai Island had been modified to operate for short periods even in environments completely devoid of free ether.
"Yes. Unless their internal free ether and mana were forcibly stripped away, they shouldn't have stopped so abruptly."
"Jin-nii, is that like an ether eliminator or a Magic Canceller?" Elsa asked, having been quietly considering the technical possibilities.
"...I think so. If I had to guess, it's likely a function that combines those two with a Magi-Jammer."
A Magic Canceller was a magic tool that forcibly reverted mana back into free ether. An ether eliminator removed the free ether held by an object and stored it in a mana tank.
If these two functions were combined, a target would be stripped of its mana at the source. And since it wouldn't even have access to environmental free ether to compensate, it would have no choice but to cease functions.
However, unlike an Ether Stampede, the physical effect on humans would be minimal, aside from the loss of magic.
"That such a thing is even possible..." Elsa started to say, but she was interrupted by a new report.
"Rie and Lucile have discovered Glow and Marju. Rie is now approaching the site first."
The scene through Lucile's eyes was projected onto a magi-screen. A rope was tied around Rie's waist, and she advanced inch by inch. Ahead of her lay the collapsed forms of Glow and Marju.
The moment Rie got close enough to reach for them, she slumped over. Lucile immediately hauled on the rope, dragging Rie back across the invisible line.
Once she was clear of the area, the deactivated Rie suddenly woke back up.
"Just as I thought. Her mana was stripped away entirely..."
"It appears so, My Lord."
"Well, that confirms it. Is there any way we can get Glow and Marju back online?"
"Yes. I believe we can recover them using a lasso or something similar."
Following Jin's suggestion, Rie and Lucile untied the tethering rope, fashioned it into a lasso, and successfully recovered Glow and Marju. Once pulled across the boundary, they were successfully restarted.
"That's a relief for now. By the way, is the boundary moving?" Jin asked. If the field was expanding, it would be a catastrophe.
"Jin-nii, can't we make some kind of measuring device?"
"Hmm, let's see... We could probably monitor it using simple Light magic tools."
"True."
Jin and Elsa immediately set to work, engraving the Light magi-formula into small magi-crystals. Once they had finished about ten, they sent them to Rie and Lucile via the transporter.
The two units held the magic tools at arm's length and slowly moved forward. The point where the light flickered out marked the boundary. They placed the tools at that exact spot to observe them.
After about thirty minutes of observation, they confirmed that the boundary of the magi-nullification zone was stationary.
"That's at least one small mercy," Jin sighed. If it had been expanding, the disaster would have only grown worse. "Split up and mark the general perimeter of the boundary."
Jin and Elsa crafted another hundred of the same tools and issued instructions for them to be placed along the edge of the zone.
"Now... the next question is how to solve this."
As things stood, any golem or automata that entered the magi-nullification field would be rendered useless.
"Jin-nii, can we block the effect with a barrier?" Elsa asked with a pensive frown.
"It might be possible, but since the only usable free ether would be what's trapped inside the barrier, they'd need to carry mana bombes to operate for any length of time..."
Even as he explained it to Elsa, Jin was already working through the logistics.
"First, we need to confirm if a magic barrier can actually withstand it."
"Yes, My Lord. I will issue the order immediately."
Laojun had Lucile perform the test. The results were positive: the magic barrier successfully protected Lucile from the effects of the magi-nullification field. This also proved that the nullification effect itself was magical in nature.
"Yes!" Jin exclaimed, feeling they had finally taken a step forward. "In that case..."
He began mentally mapping out the steps for their counter-strategy.