Meanwhile, as for what Elena—who had yet to make an appearance—had been up to...
"…It's here!"
She had been following the trail of a suspicious mana reaction.
The Pseudo-Gigas were one thing, but the teleportation magic circle that had summoned the giant golem would not have triggered on its own. She reasoned that there had to be "something" used to activate it.
"Every man to his trade; the right person for the right job," Elena thought. With that mindset, she had been conducting her own investigation to corner the mastermind behind the incident.
The fact that her combat capabilities were nowhere near those of Maquina’s squire, Rei, also encouraged her to focus on this investigative role.
She had pinpointed the flow of a faint mana reaction—a specific signature of mana waves—and arrived at her destination.
It was the private room of the former Chief Administrator, Graham Derby. It was currently unoccupied. Usually, such vacant rooms were cleaned, redecorated, and assigned to a new resident, but for some reason, this room had remained empty.
"It's locked... Well, given the emergency, I have no choice."
Elena placed her hand on the doorknob and gave it a sharp, powerful tug.
"…As expected of Avalon. This door is sturdy."
Elena poured even more strength into her grip. Finally, with a series of metallic groans and snapping sounds, the handle—and only the handle—tore away from the door.
However, this rendered the lock useless. Elena thrust her slender hand into the hole left in the door and successfully disengaged the lock from the inside.
"Locked from the inside?"
Realizing that fact was what saved her.
The moment the door began to swing open, a spear was thrust out from the darkness of the room.
It came at a speed that even Elena's reaction time could barely manage to dodge. Had she not already surmised that someone was hiding inside because of the internal lock, she might not have evaded it at all.
"…An automaton, I see."
Inside stood an automaton with a plain, nondescript appearance.
In principle, there were no automata stationed on Avalon. They were either temporary guests like Elena and Rei, or they were infiltrators.
Judging by its movements, its performance was high. Elena took a cautious stance, refusing to let her guard down.
In an instant, the spear lunged again.
"!"
Elena dodged and drew her short sword in one fluid motion. She swung her blade to lop off the spearhead, but the spear was retracted a split second faster than her strike.
"You're quite skilled."
Even with her current improved body, the automaton was not an opponent she could defeat easily. Elena decided to release her internal limiters.
As her perceptions sharpened to a razor edge, she picked up a specific magical signature.
"…A Magi Emulator? And… Seduce? I see, so that’s how you did it."
The processing power of Elena's control core was immense, allowing her to handle complex parallel processing even in the heat of combat.
"You used Seduce to drive away any humans who came near, and the Magi Emulator to ward off maintenance golems."
Elena surmised that this was how the secrets hidden within this room had remained undisturbed.
The enemy automaton continued to thrust its spear with relentless precision. However, because they were in a narrow room, the spear's trajectory was heavily restricted. This allowed Elena, armed only with a short sword, to fight on equal terms against the longer weapon.
But then, the tide turned.
By releasing her limiters, Elena's reaction speed doubled. While it might sound like a modest increase, the effect was profound. Being able to respond comfortably even after seeing the opponent's movement gave her a massive advantage.
Finally, Elena's short sword caught the enemy’s spear. The spearhead was sheared off and went flying through the air.
The enemy automaton immediately dropped the now-useless spear shaft and retreated to the back of the room. Elena stepped in to pursue.
"!"
However, the enemy retrieved new weapons from the back of the room and lunged forward. Elena's sword was parried with a heavy shock.
The enemy automaton was now wielding two short swords—dual-wielding.
"So, you've mastered those as well."
Elena became even more cautious in her approach. Anyone can hold a sword in each hand and swing them, but using two blades in perfect coordination required immense skill. Since her opponent was an automaton, Elena judged it wasn't a matter of "training," but rather that its control core possessed the specific processing logic for the style.
"Still, it doesn't seem like much of a threat."
The enemy's sword strikes were clearly slower than when it had been using the spear. This was likely the performance limit of its processing capacity.
Elena took a deep, lunging step and used that momentum to deliver an upward slash. The enemy automaton blocked it with the sword in its left hand, but the sheer force of the blow sent the weapon flying from its grip.
Without sparing a glance at the sword dancing through the air, Elena stepped in another half-step, reversed her blade, and brought it down in a Karatake-wari overhead strike.
A sharp, metallic clang echoed through the room.
The enemy automaton managed to catch the strike with the short sword in its right hand. However, the quality of the weapons was on a different level.
Elena's sword was a custom masterpiece forged by Jin. It featured a thin adamantite core metal sandwiched between layers of tough nickel chrome molybdenum steel. In contrast, the enemy's sword was merely reinforced steel. While well-made, it was no match.
Though Elena was small and light, the steel sword could not withstand a strike delivered with her full weight behind it. The blade shattered, and with the remaining momentum, Elena sliced shallowly through the enemy’s right shoulder and down into its chest.
"That should take care of your right arm!"
While far from being fully deactivated, the enemy's movements became noticeably sluggish. In this state, it was no longer a match for her.
Elena unleashed a godspeed thrust. It pierced the enemy's chest with perfect accuracy. It struck the area corresponding to the lungs in a human—the location of the ether converter or the mana tank.
Having its energy-generating organs destroyed, the enemy automaton slumped and ceased all movement.
"…A formidable opponent."
Elena sheathed her short sword but remained alert. However, the room was now silent.
"Now then, let's properly investigate this room.…But first, I should shut down the magi-machines generating the Magi Emulator and Seduce effects."
Elena moved quickly, deactivating the devices placed on the floor at the back of the room. Once they were silent, she turned her attention to the rest of the former Chief Administrator's quarters.
The layout was the same as the other rooms on this floor: a living area of about ten tatami mats with a three-tatami bedroom in the back.
"The bedroom looks suspicious."
Moving with caution, she opened the door, only to frown at what she found beyond.
"A teleportation magic circle…"
It was visible where the carpet had been peeled back. A small but clearly defined magic circle was carved directly into the floor.
"An opponent with this level of magi-craft... this is going to be a headache."
Once the chaos inside Avalon had quieted down, Elena gathered Maquina III, Tomax, and the other officials. They met, fittingly, in Graham Derby's former room.
"Hmm... This is a grave situation indeed."
Tomax Bartman's face was etched with worry.
Arietta Eoreal, the former Warp Gate management officer, and Maquina III were crouching on the floor investigating the magic circle. When they finally stood up, Arietta spoke first.
"The magic circle itself is technically on par with those discovered in the Celuroa Kingdom long ago. This means it likely cannot be activated in rapid succession."
"Once used, it will probably take about an hour to accumulate enough mana to allow for another teleportation," Maquina added.
"In other words, as long as we know it's there, we can manage the threat," noted the military affairs staff officer, Wattes Schretzer.
"That's the only silver lining..." Tomax Bartman said, clutching his stomach. "I suppose we'll have to conduct a full sweep of Avalon once more."
Seeing his distress, Maquina III offered a solution.
"I will summon several golems to assist with the inspection work."
"Oh, that would be a massive help."
Tomax’s expression softened with a look of visible relief.