"So, Elena has finally come out!"
Inside his ruins base, Guillermo Marukitasu smirked as he watched the magi-screen.
"I can turn her into my puppet with the Magi Emulator... Well, let's see how things play out first."
Golems were gathering on the vast grasslands bordering Noriji Lake.
On one side stood Guillermo Marukitasu's army: 169 combat golems and one assistant automata. On the other was Nostalgia’s force: 30 new combat golems and Elena.
The footage was being transmitted from a dedicated soaring ship launched specifically for observation. This, too, was being managed by the assistant automata.
The Magi Emulator was soon unleashed against Nostalgia’s new combat golems.
However...
"As I thought, it’s ineffective."
Guillermo nodded to himself as he confirmed the results on the screen.
The battle began.
It was a clash between Guillermo’s forces—which relied on decent quality in high numbers—and Nostalgia, which favored superior quality over quantity. The disparity in sheer numbers was more than fivefold.
A significant reason Nostalgia had so few units on the field was that they could only prepare a limited number of golems equipped with countermeasures against the Magi Emulator. Their countermeasure was essentially "modulation."
They had altered the basic mana waveform for every single golem. Because of this, the Magi Emulator could only seize control of one unit at a time. If the device's waveform were adjusted to target another, the previously dominated golem would immediately regain its autonomy.
Beyond that, the mana waveforms were now incredibly difficult to decompile.
"They’ve seen through the Emulator’s nature," Guillermo muttered, sounding like a sore loser. "Well, as long as they rely on physical technology, I suppose they’re capable of that much."
The golems from both sides crashed into each other in earnest.
In terms of individual specs, the Nostalgia golems were roughly twice as powerful. But Marukitasu’s side had the numbers, boasting a ratio of 5.63 to 1. Mathematically, Nostalgia appeared to be at a disadvantage. Simple logic dictated that a unit with twice the performance would still fall if overwhelmed by three opponents at once.
However, the Nostalgia golems simply avoided facing three or more enemies simultaneously. Leveraging their superior performance, they focused on isolating and destroying the enemy units one by one. Their advanced judgment allowed them to execute these sophisticated tactics.
Marukitasu’s golems couldn't keep up. Split apart and thrown into disarray, they lost the ability to act as an organized unit and were systematically picked off.
"They’re holding their own for now... But what about Lady Elena?"
Wattes Schretzer watched from the sky, his worry for Elena deepening.
Elena herself was a whirlwind on the battlefield. With her newly modified sword in hand, she tore through the enemy ranks. She was the perfect incarnation of her old title: the Golden Destruction Princess.
"Not yet! Come on, over here!"
Moving like the wind, she wove between the enemy golems and struck their knee joints. Their movements were instantly crippled—a weakness inherent to these mass-produced models, which did not prioritize internal skeletal integrity.
Guillermo’s golems relied on their outer armor to help support their own weight. It was a design similar to the semi-monocoque structures used in aircraft in modern-day Japan. While this offered sufficient strength when intact—along with simplified construction and air leichtern—any localized damage would compromise the entire structure.
Once the armor at a knee joint was shattered, the tension from the opposite side would throw the entire unit off balance. The resulting friction in the joints would drop operational efficiency by a fraction of a percent. It might sound negligible, but combined with the physical destruction of the knee, they were no longer a threat.
Elena had already "processed" nearly a hundred units when suddenly, her sword was stopped.
She leapt back instantly. A heartbeat later, a mace slammed into the ground where she had just been standing.
"A new model?" Elena asked.
Standing before her was the assistant automata. It was an opponent unlike any she had seen before. Unlike the bulky combat golems, this unit stood about 170 centimeters tall and possessed a silhouette remarkably close to a human’s.
One of the Nostalgia golems lunged at it, but the assistant automata dodged with ease and countered with its mace. The blow crushed the golem's head, rendering it instantly inoperable.
"Quite high performance," Elena noted. She signaled the nearby Nostalgia golems that she would handle this one herself.
<A wise decision,> the automata responded.
"So you can speak? I assume you weren't created by Guillermo Marukitasu."
<Correct. I am an assistant automata. While I serve Master Marukitasu, my creators are the people known as the Progenitors.>
"The Progenitors?" Elena recognized the term immediately. "...This might be a difficult fight."
She proceeded with caution. Her opponent wielded a mace—a weapon of high destructive power—but she could avoid it as long as she maintained her speed. The challenge was finding a way to deal damage without taking any in return.
<Now, let us begin.>
The assistant automata struck first with a horizontal sweep of its mace. Elena dropped low to evade. She avoided jumping, knowing that being caught in mid-air would leave her with no way to dodge a follow-up.
From her low stance, she lunged at the automata’s ankle with her sword. However, the assistant automata retreated with surprising speed, narrowly evading the blade's flash.
"Formidable," Elena whispered.
She was currently utilizing 80 percent of the output Jin had granted her through his modifications.
"In that case... I'll take this seriously."
She dialed her output up to 100 percent. She had hesitated because standard magi machines often suffered from mechanical strain or overheating if pushed to maximum capacity for extended periods. While Jin’s work was exempt from such flaws, her long experience had made her wary of redlining her systems.
Elena swung her sword. As an automata, she had no need for breath or spirit yells, but the strike was silent and devastating. The blade bit deep, sinking halfway through the handle of the assistant automata’s mace.
<Astonishing performance. Was your creator the one called 'Deus Ex Machina'?>
"No, he was not."
The two units clashed, their movements becoming even more intense as the duel continued. The assistant automata no longer tried to block Elena’s sword directly, choosing instead to parry her strikes. Meanwhile, with her output at 100 percent, Elena’s superior speed allowed her to evade the enemy’s crushing blows with room to spare.
<You are certainly as dangerous as Master Marukitasu believes.>
"I'll take that as a compliment."
The battle blurred into a sequence of hyper-accelerated exchanges. Sword against mace. Elena attacked with overwhelming speed and a barrage of strikes; the assistant automata countered with slower but devastatingly powerful blows.
In one corner of the battlefield, the two remained locked in an even struggle.