Reiko arrived at the mobile base via the teleportation magic circle.
She was dressed in her usual maid outfit, though she now wore a white headband as well. Land 14 was there to receive her.
"Welcome, Ojou-sama. We are honored by your arrival."
"Thank you for your hard work setting up the teleportation magic circle. Now, what is the situation?" Reiko asked for an immediate status report.
"Yes. It appears a barrier similar to a Magi-Jammer has been erected in the room containing Helente, the Land squad—units 11, 12, 13, and 15—and Father's Doppel, Jin D."
"I see. It would be best to destroy the generators first, then."
"In that case, I have already identified several of their locations."
Land 14 had not been idle. While remaining outside the interference zone, he had been doing everything in his power to assist. The situation immediately took a turn for the better as he relayed his findings to Reiko.
"The first one is right there."
The first barrier generator was installed inside the wall directly above the entrance to the hall where Jin's Doppel (Jin D) and the others had entered.
"...Father would likely find this fascinating, but I suppose there's no helping it this time."
Reiko activated the vibration mode of her beloved sword, Touka. The enchanted metal of the wall was sliced through as easily as butter.
"This is it."
A Magi Machine was revealed within the wall. Without a moment's hesitation, Reiko cleaved it in two with Touka.
"The next one is over here."
Land 14 pointed toward the wall in front of them. A seam ran along the surface, indicating the presence of a maintenance tunnel.
"Since we're short on time, let's do this."
Reiko pressed her small hand against the seam. Her fingertips slowly sank into the gap. The nickel chrome molybdenum steel wall yielded to her overwhelming strength.
"Hah!"
With a sharp tug, Reiko tore the maintenance cover away and leaped into the exposed passage.
"Ojou-sama, it is approximately twenty meters inside, on the right side."
"Understood. I'm going."
"Please be careful."
The passage was narrow enough that a grown man would have to crouch to move, but it was perfectly sized for the 130-centimeter-tall Reiko. She stopped at the exact spot Land 14 had described. Since it was a dedicated maintenance tunnel, the device wasn't camouflaged, making it easy to identify.
She opened an inspection hatch to reveal the barrier generator. Reiko yanked the device out, tearing through the connected wiring. She brought it back out to use as a reference and handed it to Land 14.
"I believe there are at least two more," Land 14 reasoned. "Assuming they are being projected from all four sides of the hall."
"Most likely. In that case... let's check the ceiling."
Reiko used her force generator to float upward and then activated Sonar.
"Found them."
There was a maintenance passage in the ceiling as well. Reiko pried this one open by force and leaped inside.
Three minutes later, after navigating the ceiling to the correct coordinates, Reiko successfully destroyed the third barrier generator. She then located and destroyed a fourth one installed even further back.
"Now the Land squad should be able to exercise their full power, but I shall go and assist them as well."
"Safe travels, Ojou-sama."
Land 14 remained behind to guard the area, while Reiko kicked down the entrance to the hall. Inside, the Land squad was locked in a fierce struggle against the large enemy golems.
Reiko announced herself in a calm, quiet voice.
"Apologies for the delay, but I have destroyed all the barrier generators that were obstructing the free ether. Land squad, you have done well. Leave the rest to me."
＊ ＊ ＊
"Well done, Reiko."
Back on Hourai Island, Jin offered his praise. Now that the link with the Doppel was restored, he knew the barrier obstructing the free ether had vanished.
On the magi-screen, Reiko was taking on multiple large enemy golems at once. She wasn't simply overwhelming them with brute force; instead, she fought with just enough power to neutralize them, relying primarily on slashes from Touka.
What made the hyper adamantite Touka such a peerless weapon was its ultra-high-speed vibration. The blade, vibrating at ultrasonic frequencies, easily sliced through any material softer than itself. Combined with Reiko's immense physical strength, it could cut through any known substance except for hyper adamantite of equal quality.
To block it, one would need to deploy a reinforced solid barrier through magic rather than relying on physical matter. Against Touka, the enemy golems' heavy armor and maces were no more than stalks of reed. Reiko was a whirlwind of motion, lopping off arms, shattering maces, and cleaving through torsos.
Before long, the five enemy golems were silenced.
[You perform remarkably well for the creations of barbarians.]
A voice echoed throughout the hall.
[Have you come to take back this mobile base?]
"Who are you?" Jin D asked.
[I am the Ruler of the Base.]
"Ruler? You mean usurper," Helente shot back.
[And you are... oh, one of those Live Puppets with a will, created by those cowards.]
"Cowards, you say?"
[Exactly. The cowards who fled because they could no longer survive on their home planet.]
This exchange essentially confirmed Jin's suspicions: the masterminds behind this were indeed those remaining on Hale. They clearly looked down on the emigrants as "cowards."
"Are you an agent for those who stayed on Hale?"
[Not exactly an agent... but that description is close enough.]
"Why are you doing this?"
[Why? Because it is necessary.]
"Even if it brings ruin to this planet?"
[I couldn't care less about what happens to a mere colony.]
Helente bristled at the dismissive tone.
"It is not a colony! We emigrated here. For the Masters who moved, this planet is their second home!"
[That is merely your logic. From our perspective, it is nothing more than the excuses of cowards who ran away of their own accord.]
"…!"
Feeling that this debate was going nowhere, Jin decided to ask a question through the Doppel.
"What did you intend to do after occupying this mobile base?"
[A foolish question. Naturally, we will harvest this planet's resources and bring them back to our home world. Though for some reason, progress has been quite slow.]
＊ ＊ ＊
"Good grief. Arrogant doesn't even begin to cover it."
"My Lord, I cannot sense a single shred of cooperativeness in that entity's words," Laojun noted.
"I agree."
The goal of the Hale faction was clearly the resources of Ars. Jin suspected that the reason their progress was slow was due to the desperate resistance put up by those on Ars, including the Supervising Brain.
"Even so..."
A question occurred to Jin regarding the entity's perception of time, but Laojun anticipated his thought.
"My Lord, we magi-brains can measure the passage of time, but we cannot 'feel' it."
"What do you mean?"
"Yes. For example, we understand that 'one day' is the time it takes for Ars to complete one rotation. We understand that two days contain twice as much time as one day. However, we cannot 'feel' whether that duration is long or short."
"I don't quite follow."
"That is because you are a living being, My Lord."
"Hmm..." Jin fell into deep thought. "Are you talking about something like subjective time?"
Time seems to fly when you're absorbed in a task, yet it crawls when you're forced to listen to a boring speech. For Laojun and the others, that wasn't the case; a minute was always exactly a minute.
"Yes, that is a perfect example," Laojun confirmed. "With a point of comparison, we can categorize something as 'long' or 'short.' However, if you simply isolate a duration like 'one year,' we have no way to evaluate whether that is a long or short period of time."
"I think I'm starting to get it."
Meanwhile, beyond the magi-screen, the confrontation was still ongoing.