"Who are you?"
The assistant automata tossed aside its shattered mace and directed the question at the sudden intruder.
"I am an automata. My name is Reiko."
Reiko performed a curtsy, prompting the assistant automata to respond in its characteristically hollow voice.
〈Reiko? That is the name of Jin Nidou's servant. Surely you cannot be the same one?〉
"I am myself. There is only one of me."
〈...I see. In that case, is Jin Nidou alive?〉
"I have no reason to answer that."
Reiko turned her back on the enemy to face Elena.
"Elena-san, this golem is an opponent that does not belong in this world. Please focus on the ordinary golems."
"Reiko...san... I... understand."
Elena nodded and withdrew from the immediate area.
〈"Does not belong in this world," you say? You certainly have a high opinion of yourself. And what of you?〉
The assistant automata ignored Elena's retreat, keeping its focus entirely on Reiko.
"I simply follow Father's will."
The assistant automata's reply was laced with what sounded like mockery.
〈And here I wondered what you might say, but you are merely a subordinate-type automata. One devoid of true intellect.〉
Reiko remained completely unfazed by the jab.
"There is no deficiency in this body that Father created for me."
〈I see—the blind-faith type. Very well. I shall cease your operations and deliver you to Master Markitus.〉
With those words, the assistant automata drew a short sword it had been concealing behind its back.
"And are you not also merely following Markitus's orders?"
Reiko reached back and drew Touka.
The two high-performance machines clashed. Or rather, "clashed" was hardly the right word for what happened next.
With a single horizontal sweep of Touka, the assistant automata's short sword was sliced clean through before it could even serve its purpose.
The assistant automata reacted with incredible speed, leaping backward to create distance, but Reiko was faster. She lunged forward before her opponent could even touch the ground, driving a gauntlet-clad left fist into its chest.
The assistant automata, caught mid-air, was sent hurtling thirty meters backward.
"So that is... Reiko-san. Jin-sama's guardian automata."
As Elena moved further from the epicenter of the duel, she was struck once again by how Reiko's capabilities completely defied conventional standards.
〈Guh... You are a monstrous automata!〉
The assistant automata's chest was dented, but it remained functional.
〈I must report this to Master Markitus...〉
It spun around, attempting to flee the battlefield.
"I won't let you!" Reiko shouted, giving chase.
However, the assistant automata apparently possessed some form of magical coordination; ten combat golems suddenly moved to intercept Reiko.
"You're in my way."
Without even bothering to use Touka, Reiko plowed through them. She knocked the combat golems aside with her gauntleted arms, sending some spiraling through the air while others were driven deep into the earth. She moved through the enemy ranks as if they weren't even there, closing the gap with the fleeing assistant automata in seconds.
〈Our combat golems cannot even buy a single moment?!〉
For the first time, a note of genuine panic crept into the assistant automata's voice. Five seconds after being punched, it felt a hand clamp down on its shoulder.
"I have you."
〈You were careless to grab me!〉
The assistant automata unleashed a discharge of several million volts directly into Reiko. It was a magical strike equivalent to a Thunderbolt.
But Reiko didn't so much as flinch.
"Is that all?"
The assistant automata stared at her, its logic processing units likely struggling to comprehend why she was still standing. 〈To be unaffected by that... Are you some kind of monster?〉
"How rude," Reiko murmured quietly.
She yanked the arm she held toward her while simultaneously delivering a sharp kick. With a sickening crunch, the assistant automata's right leg collapsed, crushed from the knee down.
〈Tell me... Was the one who created you... truly Jin Nidou...?〉
Realizing escape was now impossible, the assistant automata asked its question with an eerie, detached calm.
"I have no reason to answer," Reiko replied, her voice just as devoid of emotion. "I am securing you now."
She activated the ether eliminator.
The device drained the assistant automata's stored free ether until its tanks were empty. Deprived of its power source, the machine slumped into a state of total suspension.
"Father, I have secured the enemy's high-performance golem."
Reiko reported the success via her built-in manacam, and a response came immediately.
『Well done, Reiko. Bring it back to... no, I'll head over to your location.』
"I shall be waiting."
Reiko kept the ether eliminator running as she stood over the deactivated automata. Shortly after, Pegasus 2 descended from the sky, and Jin's Doppel stepped out onto the grass.
"So this is the enemy golem?"
"Yes, Father. I'm keeping it suppressed with the ether eliminator for now."
"I see. Let's make it permanent."
The moment Reiko switched off the eliminator, Jin's Doppel cast his engineering magic.
"Forming. Separation."
By magically severing the internal structural bonds, the golem was rendered completely inert.
"That does it. Let's send it back to Hourai Island for study."
Using the Warp Gate equipped on Pegasus 2, the assistant automata was transported directly to the laboratory on Hourai Island.
"So this is a golem of the Progenitors."
Back at the lab, the real Jin looked over the arrival with intense curiosity. However, the threat posed by Guillermo Markitus took precedence.
"Laojun, you handle the initial analysis."
『Understood, My Lord.』
Jin reluctantly turned the task over to Laojun, though he clearly wanted to take it apart himself.
"Well, that settles the state of the battle here."
Back at the shore of Noriji Lake, Jin's Doppel looked out over the terrain from the interior of Pegasus 2. Reiko stood beside him.
"Father, what are your next orders?"
"Let's see. We've pinpointed Markitus's hideout. I think it's time we paid him a visit."